The Rise of Dark Lord Vulcan! (Rewrite)
by The Dark Dragen
Summary: Read Harry's journey through his first few years at Hogwarts, and how it made him start his quest to become the new most feared Dark Lord ever known: Dark Lord Vulcan. Dark/EVIL/VERY Powerful/Harry/BIG Harem. Not for children - PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! Don't say I don't listen to my readers: Because so many didn't like the OC's, I'll be putting the old version back as it was...
1. Prologue&Chapter 1 - Harry's Childhood!

_**The Rise of Dark Lord Vulcan!**_

_**Summary:**_ Read as how having an imaginary twin sister at a young age, and having a different start at Hogwarts changes Harry from a weak and lonely boy, to the most powerful Dark Lord anyone would ever seen - Dark Lord Vulcan.

_**Warnings:**_ Underage Sex, Smut/Lemons, Twincest, sort of, Forced Sex, Rape, Torture, Threesomes, Foursomes, there's going to be much more, so if you don't like a VERY Dark and Evil Harry and the things that come with this, so if you're not over eighteen then PLEASE stop reading now.

_**Disclaimer:**_ I do not in any shape or form own Harry Potter, be it characters, spells, items, or anything else that's connected to the Harry Potter books/movies; they all belong to J. K. Rowling & the Warner Bros Pictures. I don't even earn any money from this. The only characters that I do own are the ones that you haven't read about in the books. Although, I wish I did, that way I could come up with a more believable way for Harry ending up with Ginny or someone who is better for him. Also I would made Hermione less trusting of people like Dumbledore and less bossy. Anyway, onto the story.

_**Author's Note:**_ I've got a new beta reader only going by the name of Sun, as he doesn't want his full name to come out as he doesn't want to be connected to this kind of story. Now not only did he edit this story, but he also added a few new 'Heroes' to fight against Harry and Voldemort. So here is what Sun has done, I hope that you like what he has done.

Not much has been done in this first part of the story!

_**Prologue!**_

Our tale starts with a fourteen-year-old Harry Potter, boy wizard in his fourth year, lying in his bed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Next to him was an almost identical naked fourteen-year-old black haired girl sleeping soundly. The girl was Lucy Potter; Harry's twin sister. As she was sleeping Harry was gently stroking her hair with one hand, whilst his other hand was caressing her stomach and breasts.

One would suspect to think that Harry would feel guilty about his actions, ashamed even, of what he was doing to his own twin - even with what he'd done earlier. But the fact was that he wasn't, with everything that he had been though in his short life he believed that this was long time owed to him. This was small compared to what he thought the world owed him.

Either way, Harry knew that his sister would want him to do this, demand him to do it, even. In fact, she would be mad at him for not doing much more to her, even if she was asleep and couldn't enjoy it fully herself. As long as it made him happy, she would have been happy if he fucked or raped her as she slept and she wouldn't mind, she would encourage him to do so. It was just how she was, he could do anything to her, and she would love it, reciprocating however possible.

For a normal person this would have been strange, the sheer level of devotion towards Harry's happiness could be likened to a slightly demented House-Elf on occasion, but one thing about Lucy was that she wasn't normal. In fact, until about a week ago she wasn't even real; just a figment of Harry's imaginations.

But that requires a bit of a back-story.

_**Chapter 1…**_

_**Harry's Childhood!**_

It was Christmas Day and a young Harry Potter was curled up in a ball, sobbing in his room… his room being the cupboard. Harry was sad because, once again, his so called family the Dursleys had locked him up in his cupboard while they were having Christmas Dinner and giving each other gifts, of which he wouldn't get any. Since he was four when he could start to really remember things, this was all that he knew.

Harry didn't know why, but his family seemed to hate him for some reason. He wasn't sure how they treated him before, but over the last two years they would punish him harshly. Like the time they were forced to put him into school or go to court, he was punished for spending money they didn't need to, on things like clothes, textbook and other school supplies. A few other times he was punished for doing better than their son Dudley in school, and other times they'd just generally been mean to him even when he wasn't being punished simply because he was different and would call him Freak. That was another thing; they would always call him Boy or Freak, never by his name. They also had their own son bully him, and rewarded Dudley for doing so.

Harry always wondered what it would be like to have a family that loved and cared for him, sometimes he would use his imagination, the one thing that the Dursleys couldn't stop him from playing with, to make it so they were a happy family and they loved and cared for him; but due to their normal treatment of him that imaginary scenario was shattered within a day him. So he did the next best thing; he made up a family member that would love him, care for him and support him in whatever he did.

After some thought, he dreamt up a sister. Wanting her to be about the same age, she became his twin sister. Which was the only way that would be possible, considering his parent's death. So she had long black hair and green eyes like his own. He decided to make it so she would be quiet and calculating in public, but mischievous and fun-loving around those she cared for. However, unlike him she wouldn't care one lick about what people thought about her as long as she was happy with the decisions she made. It took a while to think of what to call her, but in the end he decided to call his new imagination sister Lucy.

Over the next few months, things slowly started to change for Harry, thanks to his imaginary sister's equally imaginary words. These words of encouragement would make him do things that he wouldn't normally dream of doing. Sure what she said wasn't extreme, but it was something he wouldn't have thought of for a few more years. These words of encouragement were for him to sneak out at night to get himself some food while his family asleep. It took a while, but soon he did started sneaking out every night to get himself some food once his relatives were asleep, lessening the effects of his malnutrition and ensuring the healing his future school nurse would help him through went much smoother than it would have been otherwise.

Thanks to his so called family punishing him for the smallest of infractions and so often sending him into his cupboard, he got the chance to build Lucy's personality more. She grew more and more defined and became someone he would have liked to become, but was too afraid to. That is, unless he was pushed into it, which is exactly what Lucy did - pulling pranks and such.

Seeing that he often spent time in his cupboard, unless he was doing the chores that were so bitterly forced upon him by his aunt and uncle, he began to take advantage of the time. With nothing to do he began to daydream. These daydreams were of him and Lucy having conversations, mostly in jest, a fat joke here, a stab at Dudley's intelligence there, nothing Harry himself wouldn't say within his mind if he was more confident, but as time passed she took on a life of her own and started to make jokes he wouldn't think of along with ideas and thoughts of her own. There was one thought which Lucy was especially keen on, that he was special. That he had a gift that others did not. There had never been a soul to so much as think that thought to him until then. The idea that he had powers that other people didn't have. And that maybe this was the reason why his "family" hated him so much.

_16th July 1987:_

It was about two weeks before their seventh birthday, and the twins were sitting on their bed, having one of their night time talks. They talked of pleasant things, arbitrarily drifting from topic to topic. But then Lucy suddenly asked her brother, "Harry have you ever wondered why the Dursleys don't like you?"

Harry thought back to every other time he'd pondered that very question. He could never remember anything he'd done that would warrant their hatred. Maybe he'd cried too much as a baby, or swallowed a magnet, but Harry didn't think that was quite right. The best answer he'd ever divined was that the Dursleys despised him simply because he existed. "You know better than anyone I have always thought about it Lucy," Harry said sadly, "but I never worked out why they would hate me. I don't know what I could have possibly done to make them feel the way they do."

"Well I think I've finally realized what it might be!" Lucy said with an oddly excited smile. She scooted forward on the bed and leaned in, as if she was about to tell him a grand and mysterious secret. "Now, before you say something I want you to keep an open mind and think about it before you say it isn't possible, can you do that brother?" Harry just nodded to his sister as Lucy continued to say, "The reason I think the Dursleys hate you is because you're special, because you have magical powers."

Without thinking, Harry said, "B-but Uncle Vernon says that there is no such thing as magic." His uncle had beaten that particular thought into him with a vengeance.

"I know what _he _said, but remember what I said, keep an open mind." Lucy insisted. "I know _he _said there's no such thing as magic, but how do you explain the strange things that have happened over the last year? Like your teacher's hair turning blue after she called you a cheat and a liar when you did well in your test. Even though there was no proof of you doing anything. _They _punished you even though you said you didn't do anything. Then there were a few other strange things that happened around you that _they _punished you for, even though you said you didn't do nothing. And what about last week when you appeared on the roof of your school when Dudley and his gang of friends were chasing after you, do you _really_ think that the wind carried you up there as you jumped? You teleported up there somehow."

Harry sat there as he thought about what his sister said, realizing that she was right. How else could he explain what happened over the years? All the times he wanted something bad to happen to the people who hurt him and called him a cheat and a liar, and then something would really happen. As he thought about it now, magic explained a great deal. He couldn't come up with anything else. It would also explain why his relatives hated him; they despised anything strange, or anything that didn't fit their definition of 'normal', so Harry's almost supernatural abilities seemed like the perfect reason to hate him.

"So, if it is magic, what do you think I should do?" asked Harry.

Lucy practically scoffed at the thought that her brother would ask such a question. "Isn't it obvious! We learn how to use it! It's magic, why wouldn't you want to work hard to learn how to use it?"

Harry nodded, and then smiled as he began to share his sister's visions of the possibilities. "What do you think I can do with it, I mean I haven't been able to consciously control it before."

"You haven't tried before, either." Lucy pointed out. "It's magic though, right? So maybe you can do anything as long as you focus? Like moving things with your mind, and set stuff on fire. We won't know until you try."

And so Harry's mind was set, he would try everything. He would find out exactly what his special talent was capable of. It was hard for Harry at the beginning, seeing as he didn't know where to start, but fortunately he had a little help from Lucy. It wasn't long before he was able to levitate items and light things on fire. He found the first skill somewhat useful, as he was able to levitate himself and other things up and down so he wouldn't have to reach for things again and made escape from his cousin and his gang easier.

As for his fire, things progressed a little slower. He knew it might take years to master. But like many kids his age he enjoyed fire. The way it glowed and danced, how it stood out against the backdrop of reality. The problem was this wasn't doing his mental stability any favors, as he slowly became a budding pyromaniac. He started to start small fires and watch them, if it wasn't for Lucy, he would have just watched them get out of control and burn buildings down. He even had dreams of watching the Dursleys being burnt alive by his flames, as he sat there and laughed as it happened. He fast learned that his own fire didn't hurt him and, after a few months of training, normal fire didn't hurt him either.

Not only was he learning about his psychokinetic abilities while he was awake, but he was learning in his dreams with his sister and was playing games with the fire - throwing fireballs at each other. However, before long Harry wanted to start learning a new skill. His current skill set was coming along fine, and he found he still had room to learn more. Once more, it was Lucy who came up with an idea first.

_16th May 1988:_

Harry was playing with his fireballs, throwing them in the air and catching them. At the moment this wasn't what he was trying to do though. He was actually trying to make them float in the air. He could conjure fire well enough, but finer manipulation was still beyond him. That didn't bother him that much since he knew it could be years to do what he wanted, but at the same time he was a bit bored, he wanted to learn something new, something he knew was possible and easy to learn. He felt that he wasn't powerful enough to learn half of what he wanted to learn yet though.

But as he was thinking this and playing with his ball of fire, his sister said, "I think I have an idea for what to work on next, brother."

"Oh, and what would that be sister?" Harry returned with a smile, he knew that his sister would think of something, she always did.

"Summoning." Lucy revealed. "That way you can summon food to you without people noticing, or money, or anything we need really. You can make yourself a small hideaway or something this way, so if things get too bad back with _them _you can have a place to hold up in."

The idea of stealing from people using his skills didn't bother him in the slightest, and Harry quickly decided it was a worthwhile skill to have. No one was willing to help him when he told them about the Dursley's treatment, so why should he care about stealing from them or others?

"That's not a bad idea." Harry said with a smile. "It would help me out greatly, not only in getting food and water, as well as a host of other things I could use, but I can also afford to get myself some decent clothes."

"I thought you might like the idea dear brother." Lucy said before a thoughtful look crossed her face before she asked. "I've just thought of another idea; remember when you teleported onto the school roof last year?"

"You really think so Lucy?" Harry asked wearily. It wasn't that he didn't believe her, but teleport? He wasn't sure that was possible... then again, he didn't know what magic could do, he really should do a bit of research into what he might be able to do.

"Well yeah, it was too high for you to jump up there, so the only way I can think of for you to get up there is if you teleported." Lucy explained her reasoning. "So I was thinking you might be able to use your fire skills to teleport to places…"

"What!? I think you've lost it sister. Teleporting may be useful, but using fire to teleport? How does that even work?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Remember that book you read a while back? In it Phoenixes could teleport. They used their control over fire to kind of, go sideways through the dimensional something or other." Lucy tried explaining it. The book explained it away with mumbo jumbo and techno babble that only made sense if you really didn't think about it too hard, but it was still worth a try to learn. "Once you learn how to do it you could go anywhere you liked." She enticed him further.

As crazy as it sounded - should the idea work - then he really could put such an ability to work. If it didn't work out, than it really didn't matter, it was still flame manipulation, the control over his abilities grew the more he used them, so it was win-win. He could always learn another way to teleport if that idea didn't work, as a Teleporting Skill could be every useful to have. With an indulging grin, he asked his twin, "So sister, since you suggested this idea, you must have some ideas as to how I can do this?"

"Normally I would, but I really don't know even where to begin. If I had to give some kind of advice though, I'd suggest going somewhere quiet and try meditating, trying different things and seeing what feels right." Lucy said with an apologetic shrug. "You could even read up in books and comics to see how the people with similar skills have done it, though I doubt it would ever go into the mechanics behind it, being fiction for most."

Harry only nodded and started walking into the nearby forest, as there wasn't anything tosay. He was already planning to read up on books and comics to see what skill he could possibly be able to learn. Using them to find out how to Flame Teleport would be just as useful. As he walked, he felt, rather than saw Lucy disappearing, as she tended to do when they were done talking.

Harry spent the next few days trying various things, but didn't have much luck. The only bit of success he had was when he compressed the energy that fuelled his pyrokinesis into a tight ball and then let it go. The ring of fire that had exploded outward around him had seared straight through the tree he'd been leaning on - which had thankfully fallen backward from the kinetic force. This was definitely something he would be practising in the future. Still, over these last few days he didn't even make any headway with the teleportation dilemma, so he shelved that for later and decided to work on his summoning skill.

It was a few weeks before Harry mastered how to summon things, he now could summon anything from small pocket change to even full wallets. After that he read books and comics about magic, all to see what he might be able to learn. The main comics that he read were the various incarnations of the X-Men, as they had many different powers, powers that could be useful to him.

The first two skills he tried to learn were shape shifting and the ability to change into animals, but they didn't seem to work for Harry, no matter what he tried over the years. That didn't mean he didn't use them in another way, if he couldn't do them, and seeing as his sister was imaginary, something he didn't often think about, he decided to work these skills into her. His sister happily thanked him for it, as she had great fun changing into all different people, making him laugh as she altered their appearance to comical degrees. The same with the animals, he loved it when she came a wolf or a tiger for some reason. Lucy also found out that she could become any humanoid animal, a hybrid of girl and animal. Harry thought she looked very cute as a Catgirl, and as a Wolfgirl.

Seeing as that avenue of research was fruitless, he looked up other skills that he could master. One of these skills he found he could do was becoming invisible. He thought this skill would be very useful, as he would be able to move about and do more things without being noticed. It took a few months before he was able to go completely invisible, as opposed to leaving a limb or two visible.

He also learned he could fly, if he manipulated his fire right; like the characters in comics he read. It took some time, but before his tenth birthday Harry had learned how to fly without any mishaps. He could never get very high, since he didn't want to be spotted, but he did it whenever he could get away with it; he felt free, alive, in the air. It was like he was born to be in the air.

Lucy also gained a few new abilities, the first being the ability to copy herself. Seeing how fun it was to have to of herself she felt that three would be even better. She was trying to create another one or two of herself, but so far she wasn't able to do so. She was able to get another two arms to grow out of anywhere on her body though, like the character she'd seen in some of the Japanese comics they'd found in the specialty store.

Fire breathing was a natural progression of his skills, and he was inspired when he'd been walking home from school one day and saw a fire breather in town. He thought it would be cool to try, so he did. Because he wasn't hurt by his own fire, it didn't actually take very long at all to learn. Lucy didn't like the idea of it, so she didn't learn the skill herself.

As the years passed by, Harry was able to find an abandoned house near where he lived. Although Surrey was a large enough place to live in, it wasn't as proper as it used to be and the houses that were on sale weren't selling as well as they used to. This lead to quite a few abandoned houses that had been on the market for years. There was one place that Harry was interested in because it was just down the street from number four, and thus would be close enough to go to should he need to hide and no one would suspect to look for him as it was boarded up. Once Harry was able to get into the home, he was happy to find that the previous owners had actually left quite a bit of furniture behind - although a few things did need to be mended - all in all it was perfect for his needs.

Thanks to find the new hideout of Harry's, he realized a new skill he wanted to learn; repairing. It took a few months, but Harry was able to learn and mend all the items in the house that were broken with his... well he hadn't decided what to call the energy he possessed. Chi, Ki, Chakra, Aura, Spirit Energy, he'd even heard Lucy jokingly call it magic once. Whatever the case, it really didn't matter.

Overall, things were coming along nicely. The twins fell into a routine; Harry would train what he needed to learn during the day, and at nights he would give what he learned to his sister. Aside from using his, whatever they were calling it at the time - Lucy was stuck on magic, but Harry felt partial to Spirit Energy - Harry also learned how to fight. He didn't exactly have a sparring partner, but Lucy helped. Neither of the two thought too hard about how it was possible she was solid for these fights, but it suited their needs so they didn't question it; just in case they accidentally killed it with logic.

However, when he wasn't training, going to school or doing chores for his relatives, he was stealing things that were of interest and sometimes getting into fights. All out of the area so he wouldn't be known. It helped when he finally mastered his ability to teleport, so he could escape before he could be captured by the gangs and/or the police. So far he was able to make sure that he wasn't caught on camera, as he suspected that there were other magic/Spirit Energy/whatever users, why else would his aunt and uncle call him 'one of those freaks'? And even if it wasn't true, he didn't want them to catch on to what he was doing. It helped that his sister was able to inform him if there were camera's nearby, or people he needed to watch out for. He knew that this wasn't normal for an imaginary friend/sister, he suspected that the reason that Lucy could do this was that his abilities had somehow allowed this to happen and he was grateful for it, otherwise he would have been caught by now.

However, like all good things, Harry's good time with his sister was coming to an end. As all imaginary friends slowly disappeared. So did she. At the time Harry was so caught up in everything that was happening that he didn't realize her advice becoming less and less frequent and she was appearing less and less. However, it wasn't until Harry woke up on his tenth birthday and didn't hear his sister's customary good morning greeting that he realized what was happening; he was devastated.

It took a while, but Harry eventually recovered from losing Lucy. But he would often think back to the times with his imaginary sister fondly. Those times that he wasn't alone, those were good times. Even now he would use what he thought she would do in the situations he found himself in to get out of trouble. She was the one that created his sly and smart side, giving him the idea to keep things from people, teaching him how to lie convincingly. It was a skill that came in handy many times when his pyromaniac tenancies got the best of him, now that he didn't have a sister to caution him against such behaviour, and he was found at the scene of a fire more often. But thanks to no proof being left that he had anything to do with the fires, they couldn't do anything to him. The 'Mysterious Firebomber' was never caught.

Over the next year, Harry continued his training with his powers and his mastery over fire alone. Harry learned how to make weapons out of fire, like swords and axes. He also decided that spamming fireballs was both wasteful and not very useful for a long ranged attack, so he started trying to condense the fireballs and make them fly faster. It took until a week before his eleventh birthday to master, but he was proud to call his fire arrows a complete success.

On his eleventh birthday that Harry learned the truth about how his parents died, as well as finally getting a name for his abilities - it turned out Lucy was right, it was magic - and about his own fame in the Magical World. About a week before his eleventh birthday, he started to get letters from someone. When he first got the first one, he was foolish enough to bring it back to the kitchen. When his relatives saw the letter they paled at the sight of it and took the letter him before he could do anything and said it wasn't for him and tore it apart. The good thing about it was that he got Dudley's second bedroom.

To Harry amazement, over the next week he was sent thousands of letters from whoever was trying to write to him, he knew he could get one of them at any time by summoning one before leaving, but he was having too much fun. Whenever he got these letters his uncle would go crazy over it and have a hissy fit and tried to 'stop' Harry from getting one. He even tried to block every hole in the house that a letter could get through, when they started to arrive in all sorts of places that shouldn't have been physically possible Vernon finally snapped two days before Harry's eleventh birthday, where he took them all to a small island in the middle of nowhere. Harry wasn't sure how that would work, seeing that whoever was writing to him wouldn't let that stop them from trying to contact him.

He was right, but instead of a letter, they sent what looked like giant named Hagrid. Meeting Hagrid was both very enlightening and left him with mixed feelings. Yes he was happy that he finally got an explanation for his abilities and finding out about his heritage, but he was saddened to learn of his parent's true fate, even more so when he learned that he was famous for something they clearly did, and worse, died doing.

_**TO BE CONTINUED!**_

_**Author's Note:**_ Here is the end of the first part of the rewrite and another edited chapter of Vulcan, I hope that you like this rewrite and I hope that you'll spend a few more minutes and leave me a review letting me know what you think of the story. Be warned though, and flame reviews well be deleted and won't be posted here.

Harry's Powers so far: Summoning, levitating, fire skills (starting and controlling fires, fireballs, heat resistant, firebreathing, fire flight, fire weapons, fire punches and fire arrows.), repairing, invisibility.

Lucy's Powers so far: Summoning, levitating, low powered fire skills (starting fires, fireballs, mild heat resistant and fire flight) and shape shifting (human and animal) invisibility, coping herself and gain extra arms…


	2. Chapter 2 - Into the Wizarding!

'_Thoughts'_

_**Chapter 2…**_

_1st of September 1991:_

Harry Potter was sitting in an end compartment on the _Hogwarts Express_ with his pet owl Hedwig sitting on the overhead bars, whilst his new familiar Aneira, in her cat form, was sitting in his lip as he read _The Rise and Fall of Dark Lords through the Ages_. As he was reading the book, he was thinking about the last month. It had been a very short thirty days since Hagrid had taken him to Diagon Alley. Harry was surprised at the Alley and the magic behind it; it was much bigger than it should have been. There was no way something of that size would fit into the area between the Muggle buildings surrounding it from the road outside the Leaky Cauldron.

Despite the impossibility, and mobbing he got from his 'fans', it was amazing to see. Their first stop was the Wizard Bank, Gringotts, where he met his first magical creatures, the Goblins, who ran the bank. Harry was amazed at how much money he had; about half a million Galleons in his Trust Vault alone! The goblins informed him that he would get his Family Vault when he was of age, which he found was at the age of seventeen, along with his seats in Wizengamot. When he asked about what the Wizengamot was, the goblin told him that he should look this up himself, since it was a human thing and the goblins couldn't care less about human legal affairs that had little to do with them, unless it was dealing with money or they were being paid to care. Harry realized then that Goblins didn't like humans all that much, and that, for some reason, Hagrid was uneasy about him hearing all this. Either way, after getting the package from Dumbledore's Vault, which only contained the small bundled package Hagrid left with, they left the bank. While Hagrid went off to get a drink to calm his nerves from the cart ride, Harry had entered Madam Malkins to buy his robes.

_31st of July:_

As Harry entered Madam Malkin's shop, he looked around to see the shop had many mannequins with different kinds of robes adorning them. He also saw many shelves and glass cabinets as well as counters, all full of buttons, cloths and other item to make clothes.

As he was looking round he saw the person he suspected was Madam Malkin, she was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve. "Greetings dear, my name is Madam Malkin, are you Hogwarts too?" She asked just as Harry opened his mouth. "Got the lot here - another young man being fitted up just now, in fact," she explained to his slightly surprised face.

In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length.

"Hello," The boy said with an air of pompousness. "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes." Harry replied, wary of the boy, something about the way he held himself and acted seemed… off, like his politeness was fake.

"My name is Draco Malfoy, my father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands." The boy said in a bored, drawling voice. "Silly really, from what I've been told a wand picks the wizard, and not the other way around. Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow," he rambled.

The boy reminded Harry of Dudley in the way he acted, he would bully his father or others until he got what he wanted, his brain instantly classified him as a bully, and someone to avoid if possible - the only difference between the two was one was a fat bastard and one was a thin bastard. Oh he wasn't going to avoid him out of fear, he would kick his skinny ass if this boy got too much out of hand; no it was to avoid confrontation at his new school. He was famous and from what he knew of famous people on the telly, people watched their every move waiting for them to do something wrong and, when something happened, jumped on it, making life hard for that person. He would avoid confrontation until he could learn to get away with it.

Before he could say anything, Draco asked, "Have you got your own broom?"

"No I haven't." He answered. Why would he need one when he could fly well enough on his own? He wasn't about to tell anybody about this though; he wasn't dense enough to think that what he could do was normal from what he'd seen so far. _'Why would someone confine themselves to flying a broom?' _Harry mused to himself, _'Learning to fly without one would allow you to do more then you could on a broom.'_

"Do you play Quidditch at all?" came the bully's second question.

"No." Harry said again, wondering what the hell Quidditch could be, maybe some kind of sport with the way this idiot asked him; he seemed to have that silly obsession in his tone that his uncle and loads of other people had for football.

"I do - Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my House, and I must say, I agree. Know what House you'll be in yet? I'm hoping to be Slytherin…" the pale-faced boy rambled on once again.

"Houses? Are they like some kind of dorms were people sleep and that?" Harry wondered. He was going to a boarding school, and he knew from hearing from people who go to other boarding schools that the students slept in dorms. Maybe Houses were just different wings of the building?

"Yes they are." Draco answered suspiciously. "Don't you know anything about Hogwarts?" he asked contemptuously.

"No, I only found out about Hogwarts today." Harry replied honestly, not liking the tone he took.

"Are you a Half-Blood or a _Muggle._" Draco said, spitting Muggle in disgust.

"What's a Half-Blood?" Harry inquired.

"You must be a Mudblood if you need to ask that." Draco sneered at Harry.

Harry noticed that Madam Malkin gasped in horror as she heard Draco said Mudblood. Making an assumption, he guessed this was something that shouldn't be said in polite company, like calling someone a bitch or bastard. It was likely a racial slur, which bumped Draco up to 'racist' on his mental checklist.

Harry remained silent, since this would likely be the last time he and the blond ever spoke civilly again he may as well let him say his piece. "A Half-Blood is someone who is born from a Pureblood, someone who can trace his magical line back at least ten centuries or so, unbroken of course." Draco explained. "Normally, it's a Blood Traitor having a kid with a Mudblood or a _Muggle_."

"Ah, in that case I don't know if I'm a Half-Blood or a_… Mudblood_ as you call me, as my parents were killed when I was a baby, during the war against Vold-I mean You-Know-Who, and I was raised by Muggles. For all I know, I could be a Pureblood like you seem to be." Harry grinned internally at the other boy's rapid 180 after his words sunk in.

Draco paled, there were many Purebloods families that were killed during the last war and many of them were forced to live the awful Muggles, never knowing who they were. "My… my deepest apologies, I didn't think of it like that, I-I didn't realize." Draco back peddled. He knew that, should his father hear of this, he would surely get grounded for life for turning a possible Pureblood ally against their family.

For a moment, silence reigned between the two boys before Draco opened his mouth again, "Let me explain, at Hogwarts there are four house where you live and sleep." Draco explained, hoping that if he could make up for his earlier mistake, he might be able to gain an ally. He never thought of asking who the black haired boy was, if he did, he would have acted differently. "The houses are Slytherin - this is the house I want to be in as it prides itself for traits in cunning, resourcefulness and ambition. And it wouldn't allow Mudbloods into it."

Hearing the bit about cunning, Harry had to hold in his scoff, if that is true about being cunning he didn't think that Draco would be in it. A truly cunning person would hide what he thought of others, and would only show what he truly thinks of a person once they learn about him.

"How disgusting, look at that man!" Draco said suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.

"Oh that's Hagrid." Harry said, holding in a smirk that he knew something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."

"Oh." Draco said thoughtfully. "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"

"He's the gamekeeper." Harry corrected easily. He really was starting to dislike this boy more and more, sure he was suspicious of him, why would someone send a gamekeeper to pick up a student, wouldn't a teacher be better? They would know more about the school he was going to than a gamekeeper would, then again a gamekeeper would know about the grounds and that could be useful to know if Hogwarts Grounds were as big as Harry thought it would be.

"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of _savage_ - lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed," Draco continued with a condescending frown on his face.

"I think he's brilliant." Harry argued coldly. Inside he was smirking, with this bit of info about Hagrid often getting drunk he may be able to get info from him from time to time if he played his cards right. He knew that, more often than not, when someone gets drunk, they talk about things that they shouldn't. It would be worth his time to make friends with Hagrid.

"_Do_ you?" Draco said with a slight sneer, forgetting that he was trying to make Harry an ally, "Why is he with you?"

"As I said my parents were killed, so the school sent him to pick me up and get my things." Getting sick of the boy's attitude he decided to rub his nose in his own shortcomings. "For someone who wants to be in the House for the cunning, you're not acting like someone for that House. In fact, if there was a House for the bold and foolish, then you would be a shoe-in."

"How dare you say I could be a Gryffindor!" Draco raged. "I'm not impulsive and foolish as them. What's your last name, I want to know who you are so I can tell my father about this insult…"

Before Harry could say something about Draco being a daddy's boy, Madam Malkin said to Draco, "That's you done, my dear."

Harry was glad to see Draco hop down from the footstool and leave, but not before Draco said as he left. "I'll be seeing you at Hogwarts, and a word of advice, be careful."

As Draco left, Madam Malkin spoke up. "I'm sorry about him dear, I'm ashamed to say that there are some people who think they're better than others because they've had magic longer than others." Madam Malkin gave a sad sigh. "And sadly the Malfoys are one such family, although Lord Malfoy, the father of that boy, knows how to keep it to himself. I wonder what happened to skip that skill in that child."

"No worries Madam Malkin, he's just a Daddy's Boy, I've dealt with them before." Harry said, getting a chuckled from Madam Malkin. "He thinks that his father can get him anything that he wants, and his father can sort it out for him. He'll be in for a rude awakening one day. So…"

_1st of September 1991:_

Harry sighed as he remembered that after Draco left, he'd gotten himself some Wizarding and Muggle clothing for himself. He'd been meaning to get some 'Muggle' clothes for a while, but he often forgot to do so. Once he learned Madam Malkin could make these kinds of clothes for him he ordered himself some jeans, shirts and some other items. As he was ordering them, Madame Malkin gave him a lesson of what Mudblood meant; it implied that the individual has 'dirty blood' and it is considered extremely offensive. Harry was annoyed to say the least, but for the most part didn't care. It was an insult that he's never heard before, and thus, couldn't really bring himself to be offended when some stupid little shit referring to him as one. There was no context there, so the racial slur lacked any sort of weight.

After Madam Malkin's, Harry went to the trunk shop, something Hagrid was against, as he told him that Dumbledore only wanted him to take Harry to get the things he would need for school and nothing else. He didn't word it like that of course, Hagrid said he was in a hurry and they should just stick to the essentials. Harry response was two pronged; at first he asked Hagrid to tell him why _he_ was helping him out if he was so busy, instead of one for the other staff members. In the silence that followed that, he gave the large man an easy out; asking him how he would able to carry all his things and keep them safe without a trunk. Predictably, Hagrid took the out and gave in. In the end, Harry brought a five compartment trunk: the first compartment was divided into smaller compartments, to keep things separate and easy to find. The second compartment was an empty compartment where he could place his bigger things that he couldn't fit in the first compartment. The third compartment was a place to keep his clothes. The fourth was a small common room, where he could bring his friends and relax when they went to come and talk. The last compartment was of a study and library, this place would be where he and his friends could study when they want.

After they got Harry's trunk they went to get his things from the Apothecary, Potage's Cauldron Shop, Scribbulus Everchanging Inks, a street peddler to get his telescope, and lastly Flourish & Blotts. At Flourish & Blotts, Harry had to fight Hagrid to get some of the books he wanted, like _Curses and Counter Curses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More)_ by Professor Vindictus Viridian. There were a few other books that Harry wanted, but because it wasn't on the school list, Hagrid wouldn't allow it. Harry played the guilt card, saying that he wanted to learn everything that he could so he could make his parents proud of him, and he couldn't do that if he was forced not to learn. This softened Hagrid up and he allowed Harry to get the books he wanted.

Harry smiled as he remembered how he got his wand and Aneira…

_31st of July:_

Harry and Hagrid were outside of Apothecary and Hagrid was checking Harry's school list again to make sure there wasn't anything left apart from Harry's wand to purchase.

"Just yer wand left." Hagrid nodded to himself as he placed the parchment into his pocket again. "Oh yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."

"You don't have to-" Harry tried to tell him.

"I know I don't have to." Hagrid said with a smile, "But I want to… tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at, an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'."

Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. As they left the shop, Harry expressed his gratitude. "Thanks Hagrid."

"Don' mention it." Hagrid replied happily, happy to have helped a student form a bond with an animal. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivander's left now; only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."

A magical wand… now this was what Harry had been really looking forward to. Sure he might be able to learn to do magic without one, but most of the wizards and witches that he'd read about had one, that or a staff. He thought that they all had one, as it made doing magic easier.

However, as they were heading towards Ollivander's Harry suddenly stopped outside of Magical Menagerie when he felt a pull from the shop. Hagrid stopped as well a few steps after his much shorter companion. "Are yeh ok 'Arry?"

"I'm fine Hagrid, I just felt some kind of… pull coming from this shop." Harry answered as he pointed at Magical Menagerie.

"A pull yeh say?" Hagrid said thoughtfully, he started to wonder if it was possible that young Harry might have felt a Familiar Pull, it was very unlikely because of Harry's age, but it wasn't impossible. He _had_ heard stories where a person found their familiar at an early age, it was rare, but had happened before. "Why don' we go an' see if we can see wha' is pullin' at yeh?"

"Thanks Hagrid." Harry agreed before the two of them entered Magical Menagerie.

As the two of them entered the shop Harry saw many animals in cages and fenced areas. Below the cages were bags of feed and beddings, as well a few other miscellaneous items needed for the various species that the store sold. While Hagrid stayed near the door, so he wouldn't get near the cats, Harry was looking around. As he was doing so, Harry followed the pull on his magic towards the back of the shop.

As he got to the back, he saw a white kitten with black strips along its face and body. He felt the pull was coming from this kitten. As Harry was opening the case, the Sale's Wizard shouted out, "Stop right there kid, that's a dangerous animal."

However it was too late as the cage had already been opened, the cat jumped out and into Harry's arms. With the cat in his arms Harry turned back to look at the shop owner a tad condescendingly. He stroked the cat, causing it to purr; the very epitome of kitten cuteness. "He doesn't look that dangerous to me," Harry said coldly.

The Sale's Wizard looked at the scene in shock, "Impossible." He sputtered in shock and fright, "That damn thing attacked anyone that tried to buy it."

"What's wrong with him… or her?" Harry asked, wondering why the Sale's Wizard would be so frightened of a kitten.

The Sale's Wizard said, "Her, and that thing is an Ice Tigran, they're a race of powerful magical tigers."

"It doesn't look like a tiger to me, even a young one. More like a house cat really," he commented.

"That's because she's in her cat form and just a baby herself. All Tigrans have two forms, a cat form for stealth and their tiger form, which they use for fighting. In a few years, once it becomes an adult, and if it's powerful enough, it can gain a more human-like form. Often though, Tigrans with this ability don't bother using it for one reason or another. The Tigran have many different types, you can tell them apart from their fur colour. This one is from the ice tribe, granting it the ability to control ice to a degree."

Harry was impressed when he heard this, he was amazed that such creatures existed; he supposed he would have to get used to that feeling, he doubted the Magical World was through shocking him. He had to wonder if this Tigran would be fine with him when she found out he controlled fire. As from all the reading he had done, people or creatures don't often mix with the opposite element. Regardless though, it would either work out or it wouldn't, and as he thought about it he liked the idea of having such a creature, it could be useful down the line. "So how much is it for this Tigran?" Harry asked to the shock of the Sale's Wizard.

"W-what?! I can't sell it to some kid like you; it's too dangerous for you to handle." The clerk sputtered.

"Oh come on, are you crazy. Does this cute little thing look dangerous to you?" Harry asked as he tickled the kitten's belly, and to the shock of the Sale Wizard, the Tigran started to play with Harry's fingers.

"Im-impossible." The older wizard gasped. "She's attacked anyone who tried to hold it," the wizard repeated.

"Well I don't care, this little thing doesn't seem too bad to me. Either way, my magic pulled me to this little one and I won't be leaving without her." Harry said bluntly.

"Magic, pulled?" The Sale's Wizard said faintly, his eyes went wide as he realized what this could mean. "How old are you kid?"

"Eleven today." Harry replied distractedly as the kitten in his arms squirmed as Harry's fingers found the perfect spot to scratch. After years of looking after Figg's cats he knew where to scratch them to make them happy.

"Impossible. A Familiar Pull at the age of eleven, impossible." The man insisted, mostly to himself.

Growing annoyed at the man's continued disbelief Harry took a deep breath and finally asked, "A Familiar Pull? What's that?"

Hagrid was the one who answered, he had moved closer when he heard the Sales Wizard cry out. "A Familiar Pull is where a wizard or witch feels a pull towards their Familiar." At Harry's questioning look Hagrid went on to say. "hmm, the bes' way ter explain a Familiar, is that the animal is the bes' match ter a wizard's or witch's magic. Once bonded, a Familiar can help their Master in many ways, but the main way is tha' they can help control their Master's magic better. There's also some bleedover o' abilities, mostly boosted senses, which one depending on the animal, or increased balance and reaction speed fer the human. The Familiar gains increased intelligence and lifespan too. They are able ter communicate ter their Master though their link tha' they share with their Master, they can also share their feelin's and emotions though the link. Some Familiars can use some low level spells from their Master. They are also very loyal."

As Harry heard all this, he wanted this kitten even more, not only was it going to be powerful, but it would be very loyal to him too once they bonded. Something he would ask Hagrid later, but for now he needed to complete the transaction. "So how much do you want for this cute girl?" asked Harry.

Greed overcame over the Sale's Wizard; yes he was shocked that a eleven year old would have found his Familiar at a young age but still, he knew that the kid wouldn't leave without his Familiar and would pay what was asked. So, hiding the greed from his voice, "It'll be sixty Galleons for the Tigran."

Although Harry didn't know much from about Wizarding Money, from the gasp from Hagrid, he knew he was being swindled. After some thought Harry spoke up, "I don't think so, that's too much. I think ten Galleons for her is fair enough for her. You did say that she's been attacking people whenever they try and hold her, so I bet you wouldn't even get this. So I'll give you ten Galleons for her, and I'll promise to buy a carrying cage and anything she needs from here. What do you say?"

The Sale's Wizard frowned but knew he had no other choice. "Fine, you win…"

And so, after paying fifteen Galleons for the Tigran and the items needed for her, Harry and Hagrid left the store; Hagrid sneezing a few times because of the Tigran. Once they were all finished they headed towards Ollivander's.

The last shop was narrow and shabby with peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. and a single wand lying on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.

A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic. Feeling… _something_, behind him he spun around, his left hand up to block an attack and his right hand curled inward, ready to generate a deadly fireball at a moment's notice.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry's eyes flickered over to where Hagrid was sitting as he heard a loud crunching noise, noticing the man was sitting on a pile of splinters that used to be his chair. "You're the first in over a hundred years to be able to sense me back here before I made myself known. Oh yes, I'll be keeping an eye on you, I suspect great things from you." As this was said, an old man walked out of the shadows, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.

"Hello." Harry said awkwardly, relaxing his stance slightly.

"Anyway, I thought I would see you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You may look like your father, but you have your mother's eyes and a very similar demeanour. It seems only yesterday they were in here themselves, buying their first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for Charms for your mother."

Ollivander moved closer to Harry. He wished he would blink, the man's silvery eyes were a bit unnerving.

"Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favoured it - it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course." The ancient man laughed, as if the very concept of a Wizard choosing a wand was so ludicrous it was comical.

"And that's where…" Ollivander suddenly reached forward and touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger. "I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it." He said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands… well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…"

He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid. "Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again… Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"

"It was, sir, yes." Hagrid replied.

"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" Ollivander said, suddenly stern.

"Er, yeh, they did." Hagrid admitted, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though." He added brightly.

"But you don't _use_ them?" Ollivander sharply.

"Oh, no, sir." Hagrid said quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke. He suspected he knew where Hagrid's wand was and that he used it sometimes.

"Hmmm…" Ollivander hummed, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well now, Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"

"If you mean what hand do I use, I can use both hands, but I normally use my right." Harry answered as best he could.

"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he talked. "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another Wizard's wand."

Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.

"That will do." He said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."

Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.

"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try-"

Harry tried - but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.

"No, no, here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."

Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.

It took a dozen wands before they were apparently a close enough match for Ollivander to actually let him wave the things. That, apparently, was a mistake, because every one of them suddenly burst into flames. Some violently, and others were more tame but no less destroyed. One second he was holding a solid wood wand, and the next they flashed crimson, like they were made of magma for but a moment, and then just proofed into ash.

Despite the loss of nearly twenty wands Ollivander looked almost excited, rather than angry or frustrated.

"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere. I wonder, now… yes, why not." Ollivander said as he went to the back of his shop and brought back a box, as he took it out he went on to say, "-unusual combination - holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

For several seconds the wand seemed fine, he gave it a swish and reddish orange sparks poured from the tip of the wand. Something felt… off, about the wand though, and just as Harry was going to examine these feelings. The sparks pouring out of the wand tip increased. More and more sparks flew from the wand, like a firework, before it suddenly stopped. The sound of a bird giving a sort of deathly, screeching squeak before it just… imploded. With a sound like a wet cloth tearing it just collapsed in on itself. Both Harry and Ollivander stared down at the Harry's empty hand for several moments before Ollivander muttered, "Oh… so close there, I thought that that would be the one for you."

Recovering his composure Harry wondered, "May I ask why you thought it might be the one for me?"

"The phoenix whose tail feather was in that wand, gave another feather - just one other. It would have been like destiny should you have been a match for this wand when its brother - why, its brother gave you that scar. I thought that since you defeated You-Know-Who you would gain this wand too… oh well." Mr. Ollivander then had a thoughtful look appear on his face. "Mr. Potter, can I ask, do you have any skills you might want to tell me about?"

Harry wasn't sure what to do, as he didn't want to inform him nor Hagrid about his skills, Ollivander saw that Harry wasn't willing to say anything, so he said, "Mr. Potter, you may not want to answer, but I need to know. As without this information, I can't match you with the right wand.

Harry sighed, knowing that he would need to tell him if he wanted a wand. Making sure his hand was away from Hagrid he beckoned Ollivander closer and held his palm up, close to his chest. A small flame blossomed to life in his hand.

"Oh my, a Fire Elementalist, no wonder I was having problems find you a wand. I haven't had an Elementalist in a while." Ollivander said happily, his voice quiet as he picked up on the lad's choice to keep this information from Hagrid. "Now let me think. Oh yes, I think have a few wands that may be a match for you." Mr. Ollivander then went off to the very back of the shop and brought back three boxes, as he put them on the counter he said, "These belonged to three last Fire Elementals that my family knew over the years. So pick each one and see if they are a match for you."

So Harry did, but the first two did nothing for him; they didn't explode or disintegrate though, they just didn't react, so there was that at least. The moment Harry picked up the last one of the bunch he felt a burst of energy. He felt a great warmth, and his inner flame felt a connection to this wand. The air around him grew hazy the temperature in the shop skyrocketed. Hagrid panted as he and Ollivander, who didn't react at all to the heat, watched on in amazement.

When the blaze settled down Harry took the moment to examine his new wand: The wand itself was a dark red in colour, it was about a foot long give or take a few inches. However, unlike the other wands that he tried, it had a strange handle; instead of the plain looking handles, this one had a claw-like handle which held some kind of red crystal. The claw had silver scales covering it and the nails were about an inch long. The shaft of the wand was covered in a line of symbols, likely Runes from what he'd seen in Flourish and Blotts, that were just slightly darker than the wood of the wand; concealing them nicely.

"This looks amazing and it feels great." Harry said in awe.

"Bravo Mr. Potter, we have found your wand." Ollivander said proudly.

"Bravo 'Arry." Hagrid parroted.

"This is one of the oldest wands that I have in my store Mr. Potter," Ollivander explained. "Thirteen and an half inches long, Makore wood, which is excellent for light or dark magic. It be can be used to improve life, or destroy it. Its core is a Dragon Heartstring from a powerful extinct dragon known as an Archdemon. It once belonged to the Dark One-"

"The Dark One?" Hagrid asked, interrupting. Harry nodded in agreement to his question.

"He was one of most feared Fire Elementalists of his time that is on top of being the Dark Lord of his time." Ollivander began to explain. "If he were still around today he would make you-know-who look like a puppy by comparison. At the time his wand was like the rest you've seen today, but as he grew in power he wanted to make his wand more powerful. So he engraved runes onto his wand, and put an unknown focus onto it - that red gem there - it is said that the claw that holds the focus is also magical, and the wand has been altered too, but it is only a rumour. It is also rumoured to be more powerful then the Elder Wand."

"Runes? Focus? Elder Wand?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Runes are something you'll learn when you're in your third year - if you so choose - but mainly runes are magical symbols that make things more powerful." Ollivander explained. "A focus is a crystal that makes the wand not only more powerful, but helps to cast spells easier. As for the Elder Wand, it has many names, but it is from a child's story book from _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_, you can buy the book and look up the story_ 'Tale of the Three Brothers'_ to find out more about it and the other items that are connected to the wand. As for the Dark One, hmm…" Ollivander said thoughtfully before he pulled a dark red book from under the counter with black words _The Overlord_. "You should read this. This book is everything my family learned about the Overlords and about the Dark One and how he became one, it should be an interesting read for a child such as yourself."

"Overlord?" Harry wondered.

"It is a tale that not many know about, but you should find out about it in the book I mentioned before, but the main thing you should know is that the Overlord is the ruler of another realm, yes others realm exists. But like must evil people, he was defeated, though it was a close call to be honest. The only reason he was defeated was because this realm got involved, that and a few people on his side betrayed him too. In fact, the Dark One made this wand when he was the Overlord."

Harry looked at the wand in awe, this was one powerful wand with a history to it too. Hagrid looked at the wand in fear, and seeing this, Ollivander lectured sternly. "Hagrid, remember it is the person that makes the wand evil, not the other way around. So you don't need to worry, young Mr. Potter is safe and won't become corrupted because of the wand. I'll be expecting many great and interesting things from you, Mr. Potter… after all, the Dark One did great things - terrible and awful things, yes, but still great all the same. Oh and just a precaution, now that the wand has bonded with you I wouldn't suggest letting anybody else hold it; the security spells set by the previous wielder are… quite nasty."

Harry and Hagrid didn't know what to say about that, although for Harry he wasn't as bothered about it as Hagrid was. After a few moments, Harry said, "So how much do I owe you?"

"Ten Galleons for the wand and the wand holster." Ollivander answered easily.

"Wand holster?" Harry asked.

"A holster is to keep your wand safe. Coincidentally, this holster is made from the skin of the Archdemon, the same one that's heartstring is in your wand. The latent magic in the hide should give it an extra layer of protection, as it wished to protect the heart, even if both parts are no longer living." Ollivander revealed as he handed Harry a dark purple holster. "As you place the wand into the holster, the wand shrinks to fit into holster. Also as long as the wand is inside, the holster can't be seen by anybody but you, which is already on top of being impossible to summon."

"Thank you for the wand Mr. Ollivander." Harry said as he placed the wand into the holster and strapped that to his arm Once he'd done that he paid the ten Galleons for his wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.

Little did Harry know, but as he and Hagrid left the shop Ollivander chuckled as he said, "Oh yes Mr. Potter, great and interesting things are soon going to happen to you." He chuckled even more as he thought about Dumbledore, "Oh yes old friend, things won't be going as you planned… Ooh I should at least tell you about the brother wand of Voldemort's, you did ask about it…" Ollivander chuckled in myth as he thought about it, Dumbledore really wanted Harry Potter to have that wand for whatever reason. He couldn't wait to see what chaos was sure to happen in the future…

_1st of September 1991:_

Harry sighed as he remembered that day, after returning 'home' his uncle instantly hated that he'd brought back extra mouths to feed. Harry chuckled as he remembered how the fool tried to attack Aneira and Hedwig in an attempt to kill them, Aneira transformed into her Tigran form and stood in front of him, ready to attack should Vernon try to do anything. Vernon paled at the sight and decided as long as he looked after them and they kept out of the Dursely's way, Harry could keep them.

Harry named her Aneira from reading _The Rise and Fall of Dark Lords through the Ages_, Aneira was a Dark Witch in the 1400's, it also meant snow and Harry thought it was a pretty name for her. As for Hedwig, he found her name in _A History of Magic._ It just seemed to jump out at him, and Hedwig was very pleased with the name so they kept it.

So that's how it was, for the next month Harry stayed away from the Dursleys, to their unforeseen dislike because they had to do most of the chores themselves. He stayed at his hideout and read all the books that he would need for his school year, and some extra reading like _Hogwarts: A History_and _The Rise and Fall of Dark Lords through the Ages__. _In fact _The Rise and Fall of Dark Lords through the Ages_was Harry's favourite, it had loads of information on the Dark Lords and what they did during their time. Harry knew that it was strange to like the concept of being a Dark Lord, but Harry did; to him they represented freedom. Free from being chained down by what people thought of them, free from rules and what people expected. A part of him wouldn't have minded becoming a Dark Lord, but another part of him didn't. That hesitant part realized how lonely such a life would be, as you wouldn't have any real friends, and would probably end up becoming paranoid, fearing betrayal constantly.

As he read _The Rise and Fall of Dark Lords through the Ages_Harry realized the one mistake that Voldemort committed that was probably the reason he failed; he tortured his own people for no reason. Although he was still young, Harry knew that while Voldemort might have been powerful and might have offered them something that kept them with him, repeated torture without reason would make his people betray him eventually.

Apart for readingthat, Harry also read _The Overlord_. The book was very informative about the Overlords and what they did and were; the very first one was created by a being called The Source. This being was meant to be the source of all evil, and he created the Overlord to be his General in the war between good and evil. Not just the factions, but the very concepts themselves.

From what Harry read, there could be only one Overlord at a time and no one knows for sure how someone is chosen to become an Overlord… but it said that they were picked by some sort of powerful crystal. It was never said how this crystal picks the new Overlord, some say that they were known for being Evil for evil's sake; they didn't have sappy backstories (though some did, but that was more life's fault) or were shunned as children, or raped, or some other reason most have for turning evil; they were just born that way. Some said they had some evil deep within them, awaiting for it to awakened somehow. Normally, these people often needed to nearly die and become the Overlord before that evil was unleashed. Either way, the Overlords lived lives dedicated to the cause of Evil, no matter how minor the act they always enjoyed acts of wrongdoing and general badness.

Either way, Harry read that these Overlords come from a realm known as 'The World', and unlike the Dark Lords from his realm, the Overlords don't really have human followers but creatures known as Minions, otherwise known as Gremlins. The Minion race is split up into four types called Tribes: Brown Tribe, were melee fighters and strong, they would fight anything in their path. The Red Tribe were the Archers of their kind, although weaker then the Brown Tribe, they could throw fireballs and were resistant to fire. The Green Tribe were the ninja's of their kind, they were slightly stronger than reds and are valued for their stealthiness, ability to pass through poison gas, and absorb poison clouds. The last of the Minion Tribes were the Blue Tribe: these are the weakest of the Overlord's minions. However, they are the only Tribe able to swim where all other minions would drown. They can also revive dead minions, and they also have the advantage of magic attacks allowing them to attack ethereal enemies, like wisps and ghosts. Harry read that as long as the Overlord got the nests for the Tribes, and enough life-force that creates them, the Overlord could make as many as he wanted.

Harry read about a few of the Overlords, many having their own pasts and reasons they were defeated. His favourite was the sixth Overlord, the Fire Elementalist that Ollivander talked about. The sixth Overlord, like the fourth, tried to defeat The Source, so they could take his place, as they didn't like being controlled by someone else who wasn't them. Harry could sympathize with this, he didn't liked to be controlled either. As Harry read about the Overlords and their power he dreamt what it would be like to be if he was an Overlord.

Oh how Harry wished that his sister was real. He knew that, no matter what, with her there he knew he could do anything. He could become a Dark Lord and wouldn't have to worry about anything; he wouldn't worry about betrayal, loneliness, nor would he have to worry about incompetent followers.

Thinking about Lucy, it reminded him of the last month. He'd been trying to learn all his first year spells, but for some reason he couldn't. He tried many times, but the results were dismal. That was when he realized how much he relied on Lucy for help in training in his magic. He was surprised how much she knew what to say and how to help him, specially consider she only had access to his knowledge - but she knew what he needed to learn how to master his skills, or at the very least knew how to work it out. It was after some thought that he came up with a reason why she knew these things, although she was only an imaginary sister, she was also part of his magic - that's why she could inform him about his surroundings when he couldn't see anything. So, seeing as she was part of his magic, Lucy would know how or had a rough idea of how to help him train.

Harry's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a knock on his compartment door before it was opened without waiting for a response. As the door opened, a redheaded boy came in, the same boy that he saw earlier with his family. "Do you mind if I sit here? I'd rather not spend the train ride alone in an empty compartment I've found and the other compartments with other kids in said no." The boy asked.

"No problem, take a seat." Harry answered.

Just as the boy sat down the compartment door opened again and two red twins Harry saw with the boy who'd just entered burst into the room looking excited. "Hey Ron, listen, we're going down the middle of the train - Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there!" One of the twins said giddily.

"Right…" The now named Ron mumbled. He looked a bit frightened at the thought of the spider.

The twins then seemed to realize that Ron wasn't alone. "Sorry mate, let us introduce ourselves, we're Fred and George Weasley, and this is Ron, our brother." They said grandiosely, and in perfect unison. "See you later Ron." They chirped before ducking back out.

"Your brothers I take it?" Harry asked a smile.

"Yeah, they like to prank people whenever they can." Ron said with a sigh.

"Oh really, I do like a good prank." Harry commented slyly.

"Oh I think you'll like the twins then. Just be careful what they give you; they like to prank people by giving them food that's been spelled to do something embarrassing. I ate a biscuit once that turned into a sock."

Harry laughed. "Thanks for the warning, Ron. Anyway, my name's Harry Potter."

"Blimey, really?" The redhead breathed. "Do you really have - you know…" He pointed at Harry's forehead.

Harry sighed as pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron continued staring like a slack jawed moron, at least to Harry, and he ended up have to cover it up again with a hopeless sigh before the other boy blinked and broke from his trance. Harry knew he'd be getting some attention for being famous but the boy was acting like famous people were a rare thing. Some level of shock or surprise is expected, but it was like he was the only celebrity in Magical Britain or something silly like that.

"So that's where You-Know-Who…?" Ron began to ask.

"Yes." Harry answered shortly. "I can't remember it though."

"Nothing?" Ron investigated further.

"Green light, but that's it." The last Potter replied. He was growing annoyed, but calmed himself as he realized nobody actually knew what happened, so curiosity was perfectly natural, even if the boy sitting across from him was being pretty tactless about it.

"Wow." Ron breathed again, like Harry had just revealed that the secret of the universe was cheese. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he quickly looked down. As he did he saw the books; _Hogwarts: A History_ and _The Rise and Fall of Dark Lords through the Ages_ sitting in Harry's lap. "You're reading them then?" He sputtered.

"Yeah, I read them and my other school books over the last month."

"What!?" Ron shrieked. "Did you really read them all? Didn't you have any fun at all?"

"Of course I read them all, and I had fun reading them." Harry explained. Judging by the horrified look on Ron's face Harry guessed that Ron was the kind of kid that only worked when he had to and only wanted to have fun. Thinking of a way to explain it, Harry thought of an idea while Ron was busy trying to wrap his mind around reading=fun. "Ron, is all of your family magical?"

"Err - yes, I think so," Ron said thoughtfully as he tried to remember something. "Although I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

"So you know a lot about the history of the Wizarding World right?" Harry pressed. Ron nodded, so Harry finished his point. "That's why I read all my books, to find out everything that I can about the world I'm now entering. I hadn't even heard about magic until a month ago." He gave a half-truth.

"Ah I can understand that, I guess…" Ron admitted, "I heard you went to live with Muggles, what are they like?"

"Well most of them are awful, at least the ones I lived around, but there are a few good ones. My aunt uncle and cousin are especially awful, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers like you," Harry commented.

"Five brothers," Ron corrected automatically. For some reason he was looking gloomy, "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left the house - Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was Quidditch Captain for his team. Percy's a Prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was currently asleep. Before he could explain anything about the rat Harry quickly said, "Ron can you put your rat back in your jacket."

Ron did so, wondering what the other boy was so jumpy about all of a sudden. "Why? Are you afraid of rats?"

"No, but Aneira here might eat it." Harry replied as he pointed to his Tigran,

"Oh, I didn't even notice it, thanks for the warning. Anyway, his name is Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a Prefect, but they couldn't aff- I mean, I got Scabbers instead." Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.

Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, he'd never had much money in his life until he started to steal, but he wasn't going to tell Ron this. So to change the subject, away from his past with his own family or things he didn't want Ron knowing, Harry asked, "So, tell me, what should we do until we get to Hogwarts, if you're averse to reading?"

This got Ron thinking, what should he do, and then he thought of something, "Do you know the game Exploding Snap?"

"No, how do you play it?" Harry replied.

With that Ron started to teach Harry how to play Exploding Snap. During their time, Harry talked about how, until Hagrid picked him up, he didn't know about his parents and Voldemort. Ron was shocked that Harry said You-Knows-Who's name, but Harry told him he wasn't trying to be brave or anything, he just didn't know he wasn't meant to. He was afraid that with all his reading he would still be the worst in his year, but Ron assured him he wouldn't be, as there's loads of people who come from the Muggle World as well, and even those growing up in the Magical World weren't that far ahead, since they couldn't get wands until they were eleven.

As they played Exploding Snap Harry felt nice to finally having a real friend at long last. It felt nice, and the more he played with Ron and talked to him, Harry realized he didn't want to lose that feeling of friendship. So, after some deep thought, Harry decided to try and be… _nice_. He wasn't about to start letting people push him around, nor would he give up his plans of integrating the ideals of the Overlords with his own and make them his, but he could take a break for a while and just be a kid. It's not like he had an entire country judging his every action or anything silly like that that would cause his decision to try and have a normal childhood to erode.

It was around half past twelve that they stopped playing Exploding Snap that they heard clattering and clanking sound outside in the corridor before a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door. "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, accepted the offer and started perusing the cart, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches.

Even with the money he'd stolen candy was hard to come by, he'd had to stash it in his hideout lest Dudley find it and steal it all, but now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry. Unfortunately, she didn't have Mars Bars, or any other candy or sweet he'd grown to love indulging in for that matter. What she did have were Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss anything he got some of everything, making sure to purchase the rest of the Chocolate Frogs for himself, after getting confirmation they were just enchanted chocolate and not candy coated frogs, like the Cockroach Clusters were. After hearing some of what the Magical World considered candy, Harry was looking forward to a bit of normal chocolate, even if it was enchanted to move. He ended up paying the woman eleven Sickles and seven Knuts.

Ron stared as Harry brought it all back in to the compartment and made a pile next to Aneira, who'd jumped off his lap when he'd sat up, and started to organize his stash.

"Hungry, are you?" Ron joked.

"Starving," Harry replied, unwrapping a Pumpkin Pasty and taking a cautious bite. He nodded slowly as he chewed. It was a little weird tasting, but overall a good flavour.

Ron took out a lumpy package and unwrapped it, which revealed four sandwiches. He pulled one of them apart, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef." Ron declared glumly.

"Trade you a few of those cauldron cakes for two of those." Harry offered. Sweets were all well and good, but he _did_ skip breakfast and candy wasn't much of a substitute for real food.

"You don't want this, it's all dry." Ron protested. "She hasn't got much time, you know, with five of us." He finished lamely.

"Then I guess I'll be eating a dry sandwich." Harry quipped with a smile as he snagged two of the wrapped sandwiches and replaced them with six cauldron cakes. Ron was probably getting the better deal, but he had fourteen of the things, so he could stand to be generous.

They ate in silence, Harry trying one of everything before he moved onto the sandwiches. As Ron predicted, the meat was a little dry, but it was good to have some real food in him so it didn't matter in the slightest. Considering he had almost thirty Chocolate Frogs, Harry gave Ron five of them before he stored the rest of his stash in his trunk, keeping one out for himself.

After he'd finished the frog, Harry was about to toss the wrapper into the section of his trunk he'd been using for garbage, only to pause as he fund a small card with a person on the front. "What's this?"

"What?" Ron asked, looking up from where he'd been wadding up his Chocolate Frog wrapper into a ball. Seeing the card in Harry's hand "Oh, you wouldn't know about those would you? There are collectible cards that come with the Frogs. Ooh, that one's Agrippa, I'm missing that one!"

Harry absently tossed him the card and checked through the trash for the card from the Frog he'd eaten earlier, only to find the very stereotype of a wizard staring back at him testily. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair. His beard and moustache were truly wizard quality, and Harry wondered if it was a requirement for Wizards to have beards, after having met Hagrid. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.

"So _this_ is Dumbledore!" Harry blurted.

"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" Ron said, only to remember their previous conversation. "Oh, right. Muggle World. Nevermind," He mumbled as Harry flipped the card over and read the information on the back.

_ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

_Currently Headmaster of Hogwarts_

_Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times,_

_Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the_

_Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the_

_twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work in the field of_

_Alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore_

_enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling._

Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his confusion, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared. "He's… gone?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day." Ron joked, as if it was obvious. "He'll be back. Bollocks, I got Morgana again and I've got about six of her… do you want it? You can start collecting."

"In the Muggle World people just stay put in photos." Harry revealed.

"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. "_Weird!_"

Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card, just like Ron said. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcraft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, and Merlin. He finally tore his eyes away from the Druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to snatch one of his bags of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans from his trunk.

"You want to be careful with those." Ron warned Harry. "When they say every flavour, they mean _every_ flavour. You get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and malade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a booger flavoured one once."

Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner. "Bleaaargh! See? Sprouts."

They had a good time eating the Every Flavour Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny gray one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper.

The countryside, now flying past the window, was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone, replaced with woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.

There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters came in looking tearful.

"Sorry, but have you seen a toad at all?" He asked with a sniffle.

When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

"I'm sorry that we couldn't help you." Harry said, only for a bit of knowledge to pop into his head. "Have you looked in the Luggage Compartment? From what I read they like the dark, cold, damp places to rest. He may have ended up there to sleep."

"Thank you, I'll look there now." The round-faced boy said before he hurriedly left to find his toad.

"Don't know why he's so bothered." Ron said. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk." He pointed towards his pet; the rat was still snoozing in his pocket.

"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference." Ron grumbled in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I can show you, if you'd like?"

"Sure, just let me get a hold Aneira so you can cast it." Harry said before picking Aneira up and setting her in the crook of his arm on her back, gently rubbing her belly just how she liked. Normally cats didn't like lying like that, but Aneira loved it; it was the only time he'd ever seen her drool. She'd hissed and scratched him when he'd teased her about it, he remembered with a small wince.

He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end. "Unicorn hair's nearly poking out," said Ron, as his ears going pink again as he took Scabbers out of his jacket. "Anyway -"

He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. A girl entered the compartment; she was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes. "Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville Longbottom lost one." She asked. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.

"He stopped in earlier. Harry told him to look in the Luggage Compartment." Ron answered, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.

"Oh! Are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She blurted, entering the compartment and setting across from Ron, next to Harry, and leaning forward to see the spell up close. Ron looked taken aback by her initiative.

"Err, all right." He cleared his throat.

"_Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow." _Ron began to chant as he waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep. So he put the rat back into his jacket.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" The girl asked, her bossy tone coming out. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard - I've memorized all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough - I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" She introduced herself, seemingly all in one breathe.

Harry looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the course books by heart either. He'd read all his books, and even a bit extra, but he hadn't _memorized them._ If that was the norm he'd be in trouble. Thankfully, that didn't appear to be the case, and he wasn't going to be left in the dust.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

"Harry Potter." Harry said, barely finished before the girl next to his was suddenly invading his personal space.

"Are you really?" Hermione gushed, seemingly ignoring the small growl from the cat in Harry's arms that was quickly getting louder. "I know all about you, I got a few extra books for background reading. You're in _Modern Magical History_and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century__._"

Harry quickly scratched a few spots on his pet to calm her down before she transformed and did more harm than good, namely crushing him and then ripping the throat out of the bushy haired girl. "I've read those books too, and I can tell you that they're nothing but lies," Harry argued. If there is one thing that he hated it was people who assumed they knew things about other people.

"B-but the books said-" Hermione began.

"I know what the books said, and while they have a few good theories as to how I survived," Harry admitted, "That's all they are; theories. There were only two people that knew what happened that night. You-Know-Who certainly wouldn't say anything; even if you agree with some of the theories that think he's still alive out there somewhere. And me, and seeing as I was only a baby, I don't remember what happened that night apart from a flash of green light. So unless there was a third person there - and they'll have a lot to answer for if there was - all the writers are only guessing as to what happened that night."

"B-but…" Hermione tried to say something, but went silent as she realized he was right, if there was anybody alive who could argue with the history books, it was the boy in front of her. Harry sighed as he realized he was venting at her; she didn't deserve that. "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to throw all that at you. I'm just sick of people assuming they know everything because they read what some hack wrote for a quick Qui-er, Galleon. It's a good lesson though, not all books are completely correct, just because it's published doesn't mean books are free of human error." Harry explained.

"…Yeah … I need to think about this." Hermione said softly. Harry couldn't really blame her, he knew her type, and what he'd done had, hopefully, just flipped her world view on its ear. "I'll go and find Neville and help him find his toad while I think this out." Just as she was leaving, she turned, seemingly regaining some of her bearings, "You two had better get changed, I expect we'll be there soon," before she left.

"Whatever House I'm in, I hope she's not in it." Ron mumbled as he threw his wand back into his trunk.

"Normally I'd agree with you, I really don't like people like that, know-it-alls, but I'm hoping what I told her will make her calm down before she gets too zealous about it." Harry defended.

"Oh boy, another Percy, he's like that." Ron said with a sigh, ignoring what his friend had been trying to do. "Stupid spell - George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."

"What House are your brothers in?" Harry asked, interested.

"Gryffindor," Gloom seemed to be settling on him again as he answered. "Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw'dbe too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."

"That's the House Vol- I mean, You-Know-Who was in?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yeah…" Ron replied sourly. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.

"So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?" Harry asked, trying to take Ron's mind off Houses. He'd also been wondering what a wizard did once he'd finished school.

"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," Ron answered, he wasn't too sure what Bill did since his second oldest brother moved around so much. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the _Daily Prophet -_but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles - someone tried to rob a high security vault."

Harry blinked. "Really? What happened to them?"

"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get around Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."

Harry turned this news over in his mind.

"What's your favourite Quidditch team?" Ron asked, trying to help his new friend get his mind off the news when he noticed how hard he was thinking about it.

"Err, I don't know any." Harry confessed.

"What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, just you wait, it's the best game in the world-" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Harry through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again. It wasn't Neville or Hermione this time though.

Three boys entered, and Harry recognized the middle one at once. It was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop; Draco Malfoy. He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.

"Is it true?" He said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?" Draco sneered the last part.

"Yes Draco, it's me." Harry replied. He was looking at the other boys; both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle." Draco tossed out carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking, "I'm sorry about how I acted back then."

"Do you know this kid mate?" Ron asked.

"Yeah this is Draco Malfoy." Harry said.

Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him. "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who _you_ are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." He turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some Wizarding Families are much better than others, Harry. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it. "I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks." He drawled, using a similar tone to the one Draco had just used.

Draco didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks. "I'd be careful if I were you, Potter." He said slowly, his mood doing a 180. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."

Both Harry and Ron stood up. Harry could sense that Ron was going to say something, so to stop Ron from doing something stupid Harry smirked and said, "I see… for someone who wants to be in the House of the cunning you're still not acting very cunning at all. In fact, one could even call the tactic you're using brash and, dare to say… Gryffindor."

Draco pulled out his wand. "How dare you say that I'm a Gryffindor, when my father hears of this." Draco cried, his controlled and cultured voice flying out the window, replaced with a petulant whine.

"Still crying to your father when you can't get your own way, what a Daddy's Boy," Harry waved dismissively, his own wand appearing his hand as Aneira, in a small flash of frost, suddenly grew to the size of a large dog. Ron sniggered as Harry gave his ultimatum. "Either you use that wand, and _please _do, or leave us alone. I'd prefer if I can claim self defence when the Professors are trying to punish me for sending you to the infirmary."

Seeing the strange wand and the Tigran, Malfoy made a wise choice and left in a hurry.

A second later, Hermione appeared in the still open doorway. "What _has _been going on?" She said, her tone significantly less bossy than the first time she'd appeared. She blinked as she caught site of Aneira changing back. "What… is that? She looked like a tiger a second ago."

"So you've met Malfoy before?" Ron asked, ignoring Hermione's question in favour of asking Harry what he wanted to know. Seeing as Hermione looked curious as well, Harry gesture for her to take her old seat before he explained his and Draco's meeting in Diagon Alley.

"I've heard of his family." Ron said darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?" He said rudely, ignoring Harry's hard look.

"Yes, what is that tiger, uh, kitten?" Hermione corrected herself as saw it transform into a kitten.

"Oh Aneira is a Tigran." Harry answered.

"But you're not allowed it, and you've already got an owl. Isn't that against school rules?" She asked, seemingly learning her lesson from earlier, she didn't want to anger Harry if she could help it.

Harry nodded, smiling at her progress. "You would be right, normally." He admitted. "But Aneira is my Familiar, and there are loads of rule to allow Familiars." Harry said, quickly adding, "And yes, I'm aware of how abnormal it is for someone my age to feel a Familiar Pull."

Hermione had the good grace to blush, having already set up a whole lecture about how rare his situation was. "I just came to tell you that you'd better hurry up and put your robes on." She answered Ron's question, "I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"

"No we weren't fighting." Ron snapped, as he scowled at her, "Would you mind leaving while we change?"

"All right - I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors." Hermione snapped back at him, something Harry couldn't fault her for, seeing as Ron was being rude. Cutting them off before they could start sniping at each other Harry said, "Alright, thanks Hermione. Can you wait outside for a bit?"

Hermione shook her head. "I need to get back to my things, I'll see you once we get there?" She asked, to which Ron glared at her. Harry ignored him, giving the girl a smile and a quick "Sure." before she left.

A few minutes later, after getting his robes on, Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down. Ron, who'd procrastinated, finally put on his robes. Harry couldn't help but notice he they didn't seem to fit him; he could see the boy's sneakers underneath the hem of his robe.

A voice echoed through the train. "We will be reaching Hogwarts in ten minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

The two boys crammed the last of their candy wrappers into their pockets, in Ron's case, or into their trunk in Harry's before joining the crowd thronging the corridor. Aneira was once more cradled in the crook of Harry's arm, relaxing on her back and drooled very lightly on Harry's sleeve as he scratched her belly. Hedwig was in his Common Room Compartment of his trunk…

Ron finally got around to saying what he'd been meaning to say for a while, "Bloody hell mate, you have a pretty cool Familiar there. I did wonder why you had two pets."

"Thanks Ron." Harry said with a proud smile. "I think she's pretty cool herself."

Before Ron could ask more, the train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air, huddling Aneira closer to his chest, both for personal warmth and so she didn't get cold; which he would later realized was pointless, consider her race, she was probably more comfortable in the cold anyway. A lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice; "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.

"C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

As Ron and Harry followed Hagrid, Harry felt that this was a new start for him, and many interesting things were waiting for him around the corner.

_**TO BE CONTINUED! **_

_**Authors Note:**_ Here end the second chapter of Vulcan, I hope you like it, and if you did, please take a few moments more and let me know what you think.


	3. Chapter 3 - First Year: Part 1!

'_Thoughts'_

_**Chapter 3…**_

_20th of June 1992:_

Harry was sitting in the end compartment of the train, but this time he wasn't alone, he was with his friends Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot from Hufflepuff, Hermione Granger, the Weasley Twins and the Crimson Vixens Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell, from Gryffindor and Su Li from Ravenclaw - he had another Cedric Diggory, but he was visiting his own friends, as he was a few years older than them. Harry wore a sad smile as he looked around at his friends. While he'd gained plenty of new friends, his friendship with Ron was barely hanging on. Ron didn't like Harry's new friends, and that they took much of his time away from him. There were a few other facts that caused the rift, but that was the main one.

'_I was right, this was an interesting year.' _Harry thought to himself.

_1st of September 1991:_

Harry and Ron were lead by Hagrid to boats that took them to the castle known as Hogwarts, in Harry's mind the sight was awe-inspiring and amazing. It felt as if he had came home after being away from it for years. The boat ride was about twenty minutes long, during that time Neville lost his toad again. After the boat ride Hagrid lead them to huge, oak front door - finding Neville's toad on the walk there - where he knocked on it three times.

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face, leading Harry to believe she wasn't someone you wanted to be on the bad side of.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall." Hagrid greeted.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." The witch announced primly.

She pulled the door wide. The Entrance Hall was easily large enough to hold all of the first years, giving them plenty of room. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right - the rest older years had likely taken a faster route, Harry guessed - but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. The first years crowded in, standing closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

Professor McGonagall saw Harry and the cat that he was holding and must of recognize who he was like everyone else, as she said, "Mr. Potter, I don't know if you know this, but you should have left your cat on the train." The children sniggered at what they assumed was a safety blanket of sorts for Harry. "It would have been safe and would be in your dorm by the end of the night."

"I know that Professor, and if she was a normal pet I would have, but Aneira isn't a normal pet; she's my familiar." Harry said politely.

"Please Mr. Potter do not lie to me, you're too young to have a familiar." Professor McGonagall said sternly.

Harry's eyes narrowed. "I realize the oddity of the situation, but I don't enjoy being called a liar, Professor. There should be a spell you can use to check, if you'd like to confirm it." He suggested.

Professor McGonagall was of two minds, she didn't want to be made a fool of if he really was telling the truth, but then again, young Mr. Potter thought that his cat was his familiar. The spell that he spoke of was easy to cast, and would easily clear things up quickly, so she pulled her wand out and cast the spell. To her shock, the spell proved that Aneira was indeed Mr. Potter's familiar. "I apologize Mister Potter, you are right, she is your familiar. I shall inform the other Professors about this, as she'll need to be near you as much as possible until the bond is fully formed. You're the first student to have one at a young age in at least two hundred years or so. If you need anything, please let me know and I'll see what I can do for you."

The other students looked at Harry in awe and jealousy for having a familiar at a young age, but he ignored the looks as he replied, "Thank you Professor.

"Now that that's out of the way; welcome everyone to Hogwarts." The Professor declared proudly. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be Sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House Common Room.

"The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." Harry spotted a bit of venom at the word of Slytherin, as if Professor McGonagall hated that House for some reason. "Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose.

"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly." She instructed before she left the chamber.

"How exactly do they Sort us into Houses?" Harry asked Ron, who jumped at his sudden question. He'd apparently been lost in his thoughts.

"I don't know mate, some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." He answered.

"If it is from him, then it's more likely to be a joke…" Harry assured him confidently.

As he waited he looked around and saw that everyone else looked worried or stressed, some even outright terrified. No one was talking much except Hermione, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need. His eyes rolled back to the door; any second now Professor McGonagall would come back and he wouldn't have to keep denying the rising level of panic he was experiencing. He blamed the other kids; if only they would calm down.

Harry felt himself jump, causing Aneira to give him a grumpy look before settling down as several people behind him screamed.

He spun around, only to gasp, which was mirrored by several people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. Harry had read about ghosts being at Hogwarts, but reading about them and seeing them up close were two different things. They seemed to be arguing. A fat little monk continued on from what he'd been saying, as if floating through the wall hadn't interrupted their conversation at all, "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost-I say, what are you all doing here?" A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" The Fat Friar crowed, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old House, you know." The Friar boasted.

"Move along now, the Sorting Ceremony's about to start." Came a sharp voice. The ghosts looked over and saw McGonagall had returned, so they drifted away again, once more arguing over whatever they'd been arguing over before they met the first years.

"Now, form a line." Professor McGonagall told the first years. "That's it, now follow me."

After entering through a massive set of double doors they entered the Great Hall. Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them made the first years even more nervous, which annoyed Harry even further as he couldn't help but feel nervous as well. Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History__._"

Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. It had a certain charm to it though, and Harry found he could easily imagine a wizard of old wearing it, both into battle and just around town.

He noticed that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it too, wondering what this was about. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and to Harry's shock, the hat began to sing:

"_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid _!

_And don't get in a flap_!

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap_!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."

"You're the one that believed him." Harry whispered back with a grin. "You did say he and his twin were pranksters, and this seems like a golden opportunity to prank you."

Before Ron could say anything, Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

There was a lot of tension in the air, and whoever this girl was didn't seem to be moving. Harry thought about what to do, to lighten the mood up a bit. Although he couldn't do much in wandless magic, he did know a few spells from _Curses and Counter Curses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies)_. While he couldn't do them wandless like he hoped to do, he did try a few on his cousin with his wand a week before. Luckily for Dudley, Harry didn't use ones that would be pointed to him; sticking to Hair Loss and Jelly-Legs since the former wouldn't start to happen until Harry left for Hogwarts and the latter could be written off as a sudden case of clumsiness.

After some thought, Harry knew who he was going to prank and with what spell. So, slowly pulling his wand out so no one would notice him, and cast the spell. As soon as he cast the spell Dumbledore's hair popped off of his head and face with an audible *poof* sound. The sight was amazing… at first no one dared to laugh, but then from the far right of Harry he heard laughing. Looking over he saw the Ron's brothers laughing, and soon everyone else was laughing.

"Mr. and Mr. Weasley, how dare you prank the Headmaster!" Professor McGonagall said sternly.

Between laughs one said, "But we didn't Professor…"

"…We're neither that brave nor foolish to prank the Headmaster." The other twin continued while the first dissolved into laughter again.

"But whoever it was…"

"They are amazing!" they said together.

It took Dumbledore standing up and calling out, "Thank you… please calm down. Whoever has done this prank; well done, congratulations to you. Now please let us continue the Sorting…"

"Indeed, let's restart sorted." McGonagall agreed. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause before the Sorting Hat shouted out, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" Shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

Mandy Brocklehurst went to Ravenclaw too, but Lavender Brown became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see Ron's twin brothers catcalling.

Millicent Bulstrode then became a Slytherin.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

To ignore his growing apprehension, Harry studied the habits of the Sortings. Sometimes the Hat would send the students on their way instantly, while other times it would take longer. Seamus Finnigan, for example, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Shouted the hat. Ron groaned.

When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to Morag MacDougal.

Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called… it was several minutes before anything was heard, and it was from Malfoy instead of the Sorting hat, "How dare you think of putting me into _that _House, wait until my father hears of this!"

The Hat said out loud, "_He_ was right, you _are _a Daddy's Boy." Harry could see Draco's neck and chin - the only part of his face visible - turn pink as laughter filled the Great Hall. "No matter, you wouldn't last for long in that House with the way you act so it better be SLYTHERIN!" The hat announced with a put-upon sigh.

As Malfoy removed the Sorting Hat he gave Harry a glare, as if blaming him for what the Sorting Hat said. Granted it kind of was, but it was still worth it. Now everyone knew Malfoy was a Daddy's Boy.

There weren't many people left now.

Moon, Nott, Parkinson, then a pair of twin girls named Patil, then Sally-Anne Perks, and then, at last -

"Potter, Harry!"

As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"_Potter, _did she say?"

"_The _Harry Potter?"

The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.

_'You know, it's not normal for an eleven year old to want to model themselves after beings of pure evil…' _Harry heard a voice in his head point out dryly.

'_Who's there? Who's in my head?'_ Harry demanded.

'_It is I, the Sorting Hat.' _The voice of the Sorting Out said in Harry's head. _'Now, as I said, it's not normal to model one's self after beings of pure evil…'_

_'Well I'm not exactly normal.'_ Harry replied dryly. _'Besides, aren't children supposed to have role models?'_

'_True, look at that imaginary sister of yours. What normal person would create someone like her? As for the role model, that's one way of looking at it, yes, but I think we're at an impasse here; you honestly see nothing wrong with it and I, according to the guidelines sewn into my very brim, am compelled to convince you otherwise.' _The Sorting Hat explained._ 'At this rate we'll be here all night and I don't think either of us wants that.'_

'_True, I hope you'll keep what you learn from my mind to yourself.' _Harry ceded. _'I'm sure your role model isn't a pile of ash.'_

'_I have spells place on me that prevent me from telling anyone what I find in a person's mind.' _The Sorting Hat said calmly. '_Besides, I have a really pissed off bit of crazy in here kicking me in the metaphorical quad to get me out… I mean, you didn't hear that. Let's get on with this sorting, shall we?'_ The Hat's 'voice' grew strained, for no discernible reason to Harry.

The hat hmmed and hawwed for a little while before it finally said, _'You'll do well in either Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. You have the brains for Ravenclaw, and wanting to learn more about magic and the House of Ravens will help you learn how to do wandless magic better. You have the courage, pulling a prank on Albus proves that, no first year would do that. And you don't back down to anyone or anything. You have the cunning, resourcefulness and the ambition to do well in the House of Snakes. Out of all these three, I think you would fit best in Slytherin.'_ It finally decided.

Harry was quick to reject the idea; he disliked the thought of being in the same House that Voldemort was in, and having to put up with Malfoy, killing him would be exhausting. _'I'd light Malfoy on fire in self defence within a week. I already have a friend and a possible friend in Gryffindor, just put me there.'_ While Ron wasn't in Gryffindor yet, but Harry felt he had a good enough judge on Ron's character to say for certain he was a shoe-in for the red and gold.

_'And am I to assume I would suffer an unfortunate fire related accident if I were to send you to Slytherin against your wishes?' _The hat asked, sounding both amused and resigned.

'No comment.' Harry replied, trying and failing to keep a smirk off his face.

_'Very well.'_

'_In that case you crazy little pyromaniac,'_ the Hat grumbled, before saying out loud. "Better be GRYFFINDOR…"

_20th of June 1992:_

Harry chuckled at the memory, his friends looking at him strangely as he did so. "I was just remembering the Sorting."

"Ah," Susan began. "I still can't believe that you pulled that prank on Professor Dumbledore."

"Will it did lighten things up a bit, didn't it Hannah?" Harry asked.

Hannah smiled as she remembered that night, it did help her to get Sorted, "Yeah it did, and thanks again for the prank, it did help with getting Sorted."

"I have to admit, it did help lighten the mood and help people calm down." Hermione admitted. "Still, did you have to rile up Professor Snape?"

"Yes!" Harry said simply. "Snape isn't Professor, or wasn't until I did what I did, even then he isn't a true Professor…"

As much as they hated it, the others couldn't help but agree to what Harry said. The raven haired boy himself sighed as he remembered that day…

_6th of September 1991:_

It was a long week for Harry, and he was now sitting at breakfast on Friday. As he sat there, he thought about the week he had. It wasn't that bad, although there was a few problems, the first being Peeves the Poltergeist. It was hard enough to get around the castle, but with the Poltergeist being around, it was even harder. He would drop waste paper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"

However, worse than him, if that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch. He would threaten the students to lock them up or chained them up in the dungeons if they crossed him. Him and Ron did just that by mistake, but were saved by Professor Quirrell. What didn't help was that Filch owned a cat named Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-coloured creature with bulging, lamp like eyes just like Filch's. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later.

And then, once you had managed to find them, there were the classes themselves. There were the magic classes and non-magic classes. The magic classes were Charms, Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Charms, was taught by Professor Flitwick, who was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. He was a laid-back teacher, and had a rich sense of humour and was always fair with his students, even those who were not in Ravenclaw. He was an excitable man, taking true passion in helping his students learn his craft.

Transfiguration, was taught by Professor McGonagall, Harry was quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a stern and firm lecture the moment they sat down in her first class. She warned about how dangerous her class was and told them all what would happen to them should they mess around in her class.

These two classes helped him a lot, as they began with theory, explaining to the students what they had to do to cast spells. Harry's goal of learning wandless magic didn't seem quite so far off after he experienced these classes. Both teachers stressed that they should get a feel for their magic and the image of what he wanted to be done before casting anything; the exercise they suggest may as well have been meditating, but a shorter, more abridged version. Harry was delighted by this technique because he was beginning to be able to feel him magic; literally feel it moving inside his body, instead of just being a mass that he powered things with. It wasn't much, but it was one heck of a good building block to start with.

Defence Against the Dark Arts, boy was that a big letdown, it was one of the classes Harry was really looking forward to, but it was taught by a stammering fool, Professor Quirrell. For a class that should have stressed perfect casting, Quirrell couldn't teach his way out of a wet paper bag. It took him twice as long to instruct anything, and it took the class two or three times longer to learn anything because it took quite a while to work out what Quirrell was saying.

As for the non-magic classes, they weren't too bad. Herbology, History of Magic, Astronomy and Potions, out of these classes, Potions was the only class that Harry hadn't yet taken.

Herbology was Harry's favourite of these classes. The class was taught by a stout little witch called Professor Sprout where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, followed by learning about their many uses. Professor Sprout informed them that over time they would learn how these plants could heal people, and how they could be used for harm - mostly so they knew what to look out for - but that would be later on, a few years down the road.

Astronomy was taught by Professor Sinistra, she was a gorgeous witch, one of the youngest on staff from what Harry had seen, and if Harry was just the slightest bit more mature he'd describe the woman as sexy. Unfortunately, there wasn't much of a point to the class yet, at least from what Harry could tell. Learning the constellations and planets and such was fun, but there was little practical application.

History of Magic was taught by Professor Binns, the only ghost to teach. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates. For Harry, an eleven year old boy, even as interested in his studies as he was, was terribly bored in this class until he started reading independently in class; grabbing a history book from the Library and reading about other events aside from the Goblin Rebellions - which was the only thing Binns ever talking about. Overall, it wasn't the best class, but at least it was basically a free period, as long as he could shut out Binns droning.

Harry was sitting down in the Great Hall finishing his breakfast with Ron, and his new friend Hermione. Well, _friend_, was a strong term to describe the relationship they had, more like Study Buddies really. Harry would like to be friends with her, but Ron and Hermione fought too much. Hermione was making great progress as she socialized with others, but she was still grating at times as some of her old habits died hard. Ron wasn't helping and poked fun at basically everything he could, but he was Harry's first friend so he was willing to look past a lot, probably more than he should have.

They had Double Potions with the Slytherins that morning, something most of the first years Gryffindor's, apart from Hermione, were dreading. As Snape, the Head of House Slytherin, was teaching it and if the rumours were true, favoured his own House heavily. It was also said that he allowed his House to ruin other people's potions, and took points for the simplest things. Out of all the Houses Snape was rumoured to hate Gryffindor the most for something that happened to him as a child, something that a Gryffindor did to him. Harry was baffled by the whole situation. If you hated one fourth of the students because of what colour they wore, _why would you teach_? These were all rumours though, so Harry wouldn't go against the man, _yet_, but if he was as bad as they said he was Harry would happy to deal with the man somehow. Plus, he would also be seeing Hagrid that afternoon, so that was something to look forward to.

By the end of Potions class Harry learned something, at the start-of-term banquet, Harry had gotten the idea that Professor Snape disliked him, but by the end of the class, he knew he'd been wrong. Snape didn't _dislike_ Harry - he _hated_ him. At least he gave him a reason to hate him though apart from whatever reason he had to begin with.

Potion lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder there than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.

Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name.

"Ah, _yes_, Harry Potter. Our new… _celebrity._" Harry had to bite his tongue to stop himself from launching an insult back at the man's tone. It didn't help that Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making." He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word - like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

More silence followed this little speech. Harry and Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead. Harry couldn't believe it, the rumour were true, even more so then he first thought. He had to wonder what kind of person the Headmaster really was to allow this person to keep teaching students. A teacher should be someone who would help and encourage a student, not put them down and make them look like a fool of.

"Potter!" Snape snapped suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry thought about it for a few moments, before he thought back and remembered what he read over the summer. He absently noticed Hermione's hand had shoot into the air, but Snape wasn't taking any notice of her.

It was a few moments before he remembered the correct potion from the book. "It would be a powerful sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death, sir."

"Correct, Potter." Snape said with a sneer, not believing that the boy in front of him could answer a third year question, but with an even deeper sneer he asked again, "Lucky guess Potter. Let's see if it was a question or you really did know your work… where would you look if I told you to find me a Bezoar?"

Harry smirked, he remembered this one, it was in one of other books that he got that was all about poisons and antidotes - he saw once again Hermione stretching her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat. Harry was half-tempted to be cocky and say in the Supply Cupboard, or a Apothecary, but decided against it. It already looked like this person hated him, he didn't need to give the man a real reason. So with a smile that seemed to piss Snape off, Harry answered, "A Bezoar is a stone that's taken from the stomach of a goat, and it will save you from most poisons."

Yet again Snape was shocked that this boy could answer his question, he picked these questions so that he could make a fool of Potter, to show him up, but it wasn't working! "So you think you're so smart, so tell me what's the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" The man snarled, losing his cool noticeably, causing the class to blink, or stop giggling, in the Slytherin's case.

At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling. Harry shook his head lightly; if Snape wasn't going to allow her to answer the other questions, why would she think that he would allow her this time? On the other hand, he was getting tired of Snape, the man was a petty asshole. He knew for a fact these questions were well above what a first year would know, even one taking their end of year exams. He knew the answer, thankfully, so he would be able to piss the man off further. He was already turning Vernon-3, Harry wondered if he could drive the man all the way up to 6. "Why don't you ask Hermione, she seems to know this one…?"

_'Wow, from three to six, that's actually sort of impressive, in a sad sort of way.'_ Harry commented as Snape lost even more composure. "But I suppose you did ask me, so I'll answer. There is no difference between monkshood and wolfsbane, they're the same plant." He answered simply. Having basically single handily kept the Dursely's garden living over the years had its perks, he supposed.

Snape glared at him for several more moments, his face purple and a vain throbbing on his shiny forehead before he ground out, "Correct, Potter…" He looked around the room, his bloodshot eyes causing anybody he looked at to recoil. "Well, why aren't you all copying that down?!" He demanded.

There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And twenty points will be taken from Gryffindor for your arrogance and for being a know-it-all, Potter, along with your cheek."

There was a deluge of cries from the Gryffindors. Taking a point or two from Harry for his cheek would have been normal - something even Harry admitted would have been justified - but twenty points?! What's worse were the points lost for being a 'know-it-all'. The rest of the Gryffindor's may have disliked Hermione for this particular trait due to her habits of being condescending occasionally and a few times rubbed it in their face about it, but at least she earned them loads of points for knowing all the answers, and answering for them so they didn't have to. They couldn't believe they were suddenly getting docked points for correct answers, if this kept happening; the Gryffindor's hourglass would be empty by the end of the day.

Harry had remained silent, plotting how to get the man back for his petty ways. It all started with Snape telling the class that what they were doing a simple potion to cure boils, and the instructions were on the board and they had until the end of the class to finish it.

However, Harry noticed that Snape never showed them how to make it properly, nor explain why things had to be done in such a way so that nothing bad happens; exploding, for instance. Harry didn't touch his work, something Snape quickly noticed.

So when Snape got to his table, he predictably sneered down at him and said, "So, are you so arrogant that you think you don't have to do any work in my class?" Like the empty headed sycophants they were there was some giggling from a few of the Slytherin half of the class.

"Oh, no, nothing of the sort. I'm really looking forward to getting started." Harry said politely. "But you haven't shown us how to make the potion. Your speech in our first class really drove home how dangerous potions class could be, I was just waiting for you to further explain the brewing process and caution us about any mistakes that would cause cauldron melting, or explosions of scrap metal or deadly neurotoxins." Harry barely knew what that last one was, but it sounds appropriately poisonous and it just seemed to roll off the tongue.

"Are you telling me what to do Potter?" Snape hissed.

"No." Harry answered. He probably should have added a 'sir' in somewhere, but he refused to show that level of respect to a petty bully. "I'm just worried about myself and the others Muggleborn or Muggle-raised, and maybe even some of the Purebloods; some were brought up knowing about potions, but a lot of us may have never even seen a cauldron before. I've only seen a cauldron once on a school trip, and we certainly didn't brew anything in it. I could harm myself and everyone around me if I messed up on accident, from what you told us."

Snape didn't hear any of this though, too wrapped up in his own inner rant at the gall of the boy for questioning him. "Another twenty points from Gryffindor for disrespecting a Professor."

"But -" Ron tried to stop Harry from talking, so that he wouldn't lose more points from Gryffindor, but Harry wasn't having any of it. "I wasn't disrespecting you, I was just telling you why I wasn't doing my work." He answered.

All Snape heard was 'I'm not doing this because you're a greasy git.' Having grown so used to the nickname from students it was so ingrained in his mind he now thought everyone who wasn't a Slytherin called him that, something he only helped along. "Fifty points Potter, and you're coming with me to the Headmaster's office! Class dismiss…" Snape declared. He tried to grab Potter's arm, but the boy moved out of the way. He ignored this, playing it off, and walked out of the room anyway. The Potter brat was following him, the one act all day Snape couldn't accuse him of being a dunderhead for doing.

_20th of June 1992:_

Harry smiled as he remembered what happened as Snape took him to the Headmaster, Snape made it out that Harry was in the wrong. The Headmaster gave him a disappointed look, and told him that he should give Snape the respect that he was given. Harry then remembered the school rules about issuing formal complaints and he asked for his Head of House to be there.

Once Professor McGonagall arrived she asked what was going on and Harry explained what happened and began to explain his side of it all. When he was done, McGonagall asked if he had anything to back up his claims apart from the students, seeing that the two Houses never got along and it would seem that he was trying to get Snape into trouble and having his House Mates helping him. Harry reasoned that if he could use the school's Pensieve he could show her his memory. Snape and Dumbledore paled at this, shocked that Harry would know about it, and when asked, Harry told them that he read about it in _Hogwarts: A History_. Snape and Dumbledore were forced to allow Harry to show McGonagall his memories of his memories, something they didn't want happening, but the Pensieve was in plain sight and Mcgonagall was in her rights to see the memory.

Once McGonagall came out of the Pensieve Harry saw why teachers and students feared and respected her. She had an aura around her when she was really angry, something up to now Harry had never seen firsthand before. She asked Harry to leave, and she promised that all the points would be recovered and that things would be sorted out for once and for all. As Harry left the office he heard McGonagall arguing with Dumbledore and Snape about how things were going to change.

Harry smiled as he remembered days later that McGonagall informed the Gryffindor's that Potions were now going to be different. Snape would be behaving himself, and would be finally teaching Potions properly; following the ICW's guidelines, and if he didn't, they were to come to her and tell her.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the train moving, announcing that they were leaving Hogsmeade Station. As the train was leaving the station, Harry looked at his friends and said, "I'm going to rest for a while, could you wake me when the trolley lady comes by?"

"Why are you going to sleep? You only got up a few hours ago." Angelina asked.

"I only got a few hours of sleep." Harry replied with a shrug.

"Alright, we'll wake you when the trolley lady comes by." The oldest of the Chaser Trio ceded.

"Thanks." He said gratefully as he his head back and went to sleep.

_13th of September 1991:_

It has been nearly two weeks since Harry started Hogwarts, and things were slowly coming together for Harry. His lessons were getting better, apart for Defence Against the Dark Arts and History of Magic anyway, and they were finally learning to cast spells; having moved on from the practical side of Transfigurations and Charms.

At the moment he was walking down to the grounds for his first flying lesson, something Harry was interested in, as he wanted to see the difference between flying with a broom and flying without one. As he was walking to the grounds, he was thinking about this life outside of classes. His social life had certainly picked up, that was for sure. When he wasn't with his Ron and Hermione, he was sneaking out of Gryffindor Tower and exploring Hogwarts. This was something he had to do by himself, if Ron found out he would have wanted to come along with Harry and that would mean he wouldn't be able to use his skills to move around without been seen, and should Hermione find out, she would have tried to stop him, or more likely, informed a professor. The other first years had gotten lost so much that all of them were banned from wandering around after a certain time, which was fairly early in the afternoon. Harry refused to let the fallacy of the imbeciles hamper his enjoyment because they were incompetent.

The reason behind the exploring of Hogwarts, is to know where everything is so he could use his fire teleportation skill. As he learnt that, although his magic would allow it so that he wouldn't accidentally hit something, or fusing with a wall, desk or anything else, he needed a good mental picture of where he wanted to go. He could try and force it of course, but he feared that he may end up across the world or worse.

As for his skills, he hadn't yet found time to train them. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but the fact was that he didn't have a place to train that people wouldn't accidentally stumble upon at the worst possible time. Because of this, he decided to wait. Classes were going well anyway, and he hadn't found a weakness in his skills yet. Then again, they were doing material he could equate to 'connect two dots' level of difficulty, so that wasn't saying much.

The upside of this was that he could spend more time with his friends; training would have eaten up a good portion of his time. Between of Ron and Hermione, Ron was the easiest to get along with. He wasn't the smartest of people, and had some pretty major inferiority issues, but Harry wasn't exactly the picture of perfect mental health either. It was easy to hang out with Ron; with him it was mainly about chess, food and Quidditch. He could settle down and be normal with Ron, and oddly enough Harry liked the feeling. There were downsides of course, Harry was a smart kid, and he liked being around someone he could talk shop with, so to speak, and Ron either ignored any conversations above his IQ level, harped on the people talking until they stopped, or just left. Thankfully, that's where Hermione came in.

Hermione Granger wasn't known for being stupid girl, well, not intellectually anyway, she would admit her social skills were somewhat… lacking. She told Harry one night, she was like this because she'd never had a friend before, and she was bullied when she was younger because of how smart she was and for answering the teachers questions when they asked. She also told Harry that she really did cherish her sort-of friendship with him, despite her stand-offish nature leading some to believe otherwise. She also explained her trust in figures of authority; she said she was brought up to trust them and, unlike her peers, had been given no reason not to trust them. This was another reason that she was bullied, as she would often follow the rules rigidly and report people who broke them.

She was very grateful to him, as he was the persistent and patient type because she was sure if the roles were reversed she would have yelled at herself for being so annoying. What she didn't know was it was a hit and miss at times, the only reason that Harry haven't yet let her go, is because he could see some hope in her to change and so kept it up with her.

Harry was interrupted from his thoughts as he saw that he was at the pitch where the flying lessons were taking place. He saw that the Slytherins were already there, along with Ron and Hermione, so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Harry had heard Fred and George complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flews lightly to the left. Frankly, they sounded like your standard shopping cart from a grocery that'd been around for more than a few years.

Before he could go back to his thoughts their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. He had to wonder why someone would want to fly on a broom like this.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!' "

"UP!" Everyone shouted.

Harry was shocked to find his broom jumped right into his hand at once, but he saw that it was one of the few that did. Hermione's simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, thought Harry; there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground.

Walking over to Hermione and Neville, he said, "Hermione, Neville, think of it like a horse." Both of them looked at him strangely so he explained his reasoning. "Horses can sense when their rider is afraid of them. Try and be more confident."

Nodding, the two of them held their hand put and a bit more confidently, they both said, "Up!" The broom shook for a moment or two before they flew into their hands. Both of his fellow Gryffindor's smiled at him, "Thanks Harry."

Once everyone got their brooms into their hands, Madam Hooch showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Harry exchanged smirks with Ron when she had to correct Malfoy twice, who'd been bragging about flying brooms for years.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard." Madam Hooch instructed. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle; three, two-"

Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.

"Come back, boy!" She shouted, but Harry doubted Neville could hear her over the sound of his own terrified screams and he corkscrewed upwards. It was barely a few second before his grip loosened and he plummeted towards the ground.

A thud and a nasty crack were heard, causing the gathered students to wince. Neville's broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight. Neville himself was unmoving, face down in the grass.

Madam Hooch rushed over to examine him, casting a spell that caused the boy to wake up before she picked him up.

"Broken wrist I suspect." She muttered as she looked him over. "Come on, boy, it's all right, up you get."

She turned to the rest of the class. "None of you are to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."

Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.

No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter. "Did you see his face, the great lump?"

The other Slytherins joined in.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Snapped Parvati.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" Pansy taunted. "Never thought _you'd_ like fat little cry babies, Parvati."

"Look," Malfoy said with a smirk as his eyes locked on the Remembrall lying on the ground. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's Gran sent him." He was going to have some fun with it and try and bate the Gryffindor's with it, so with luck they would fight him and so he could get them in trouble. All he had to do was grab it and-

Before Malfoy he could even implement his plan, Harry Potter wordlessly picked up the glittery crystal ball and pocketed it. Malfoy absently heard him give a reply of, "Oh, thanks Malfoy, Neville probably wants this back." As he did so. Malfoy couldn't tell if the boy was mocking him or not, distracted as he was by his scheme shattering before it could even form; he couldn't even accuse the other boy of stealing it. Well, he could, but even he knew that was stupid; he was Harry Potter, and a fellow Gryffindor on top of that, and Gryff's didn't steal from each other, that was more of a Slytherin and sometimes Ravenclaw thing. Draco seethed as his scheme was ruined before it could even happen. How dare Potter interfere like that and walk away like he didn't even know what he'd done!

Harry didn't care if the Remembrall was broken or not, but it would be a nice gesture of good will to return it undamaged. Frankly, Harry thought the thing was tacky and spiteful; while it was common knowledge that Neville was terribly forgetful, to send something like this to him… it was like she was rubbing it in. It was like the woman didn't respect him. If the thing told Neville what he forgot instead just telling him that he forgot something, it wouldn't be so bad. Whatever the reason, Neville seemed to like the thing for some reason, so Harry grabbed it and slipped it into his pocket as the students started gathering into groups and chatting.

They spent the next fifteen minutes chatting, Harry drifting from group to group, seeing how the students reacted. He only tried a group of Slytherins once, but apparently he picked the wrong group - one that was close to Malfoy, or at least similar beliefs, and was glared at until he left. Speaking of glares, Malfoy himself had spent the entire quarter hour glaring and pouting like a child; Harry had no idea why, and his clueless expression only seemed to set the blond off further. Harry still couldn't believe the other boy had wound up in the House of Cunning. So far from what he'd seen Malfoy had yet to show any sort of cunning, or even a hint of subtlety. What's worse, if things didn't go his way he would threaten the other person with going his father. Harry suspected his father was the only reason he hadn't been eaten alive by what was no doubt a very fragile social hierarchy within Slytherin.

Once Madam Hooch returned she informed them that Neville's wrist was broken like she suspected, but he should be fine in an hour. Harry heard Malfoy mutter that it was a shame, and he'd hoped that it was worse. Harry had to suppress the urge to chuck a rock at him; with how backwards some of the rules in the magical word were he probably wouldn't be breaking any school rules unless he enchanted the rock, thus making it a Magic Rock. After she said this, she started the class.

The class went well, Madam Hooch said that Harry was a natural and could be on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team the following year. Harry thanked her for the compliment, but claimed he didn't like flying. Hooch was baffled, but Harry shrugged helplessly and told her that just because he had natural skill (apparently inherited from his dad) it didn't mean he liked the activity. It was a half-truth, really, he loved flying, but after flying on his so long own using a broom felt… uncomfortable? Wrong? Clunky? Just _off_ in general really. He'd have to find time to fly on his own.

_30th of September 1991:_

Hermione Granger was sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room thinking about her life so far. Until a month ago she was a lonely, bullied little girl. She was known as a smart person who believed in figures of authority to always do the right thing, and was a bit bossy when it came to rules and those who would break them. Because of her bossy attitude, she was alienated and eventually scorned by her peers. It hurt her emotionally, and turned into an endlessly repeating cycle, causing the girl to pull deeper and deeper into her shell and blindly following the only people willing to stand up for her; her parents and teachers.

Still, her social isolation did have some benefits; namely, Hermione considered herself to be good at examining people. It was a hobby she'd used to pass the time when her parents had a scheduling error in their dental office, or were running late for one reason or another, and she'd be left at school from anywhere between a few minutes up to half an hour - depending on traffic - and she'd read books and talked to her parents about recognizing signs in people, specially kids her own age.

This last detail had been after she'd overheard her parents talking about seeing a child that they thought was abused one day, recognizing the fact by his body language. Hermione had bookmarked these signs in particular, just in case she was in a similar position and could help, unlike her parents in that particular instance.

She didn't want to admit it, but her friend, Harry Potter, exhibited quite a few of the signs of being abused.

Hermione had only known Harry for a month now, so she could be wrong and there could be other reasons for the signs she was picking up. He was also her first friend and Hermione didn't want to think that he was abused; that was on top of the fact that he was a hero, she didn't want to think that a hero would be treated like that. There was also the fear of what would happen should she be wrong, she didn't want to push too hard about it just in case because she feared she might lose him. He was smart, although distrusting, he was loyal to those who had his trust, and was easy to talk to. Sure their friendship had its rough moments, but she felt they were closer for it when they made up a few minutes later. Not to say their spats were common, it was just nice to note that almost all of their uncommon arguments usually ended with one of them better for it.

She was somewhat sure that he wasn't physically abused, or at least not heavily. Mentally however, was another matter. He was so hard to read that it took her far longer than it would anybody else to feel confident in her findings; he seemed to be forcing himself to act a certain way, but what his true nature was she couldn't be sure. She was confident he was probably a very meek child though, because of the signs she'd seen. He didn't like being touched, even flinching when people surprised him, his knee-jerk reaction was to avoid other people before his mask slipped on and he was back to the extrovert he was pretending to be, there was also the physical evidence, his thin frame, while nothing that would raise any red flags, when combined with the other tells lead to an unpleasant picture. Well, that or he was a very unbalanced individual, but she didn't want to think that way about her first friend.

So, she kept her promise from all those years ago and discreetly met with the school nurse. Imagine her surprise when Madam Pomfrey, after along of pushing, admitted she'd noticed Harry had some minor malnutrition and a high amount of scars. The malnutrition wasn't that uncommon, though his case was somewhat worse than most children, but it could be easily explained away if the children were picky eaters. His injuries weren't overly numerous, but more than most active children had at his age. Hermione had been incensed. She knew why the nurse would dismiss these injuries; her wing always had at least one student, and the medical check-ups all students got during the first week after the Sorting meant she had to ignore the minor things and focus on the more serious ailments.

Thirty minutes later a red faced Hermione quickly fled from the Hospital Wing, embarrassed beyond belief that she'd just spend half an hour ranting at the now pale woman. She had gotten a promise from the woman to look more closely at her friend, so she supposed it was worth the mortification. Now all she had to do was convince Harry to go… she was deep in thought as she walked. Harry wasn't aware that she suspected he was abused, so it would be much easier to convince him.

So here she was in the Gryffindor Common Room. Since it was Friday afternoon, she knew he would be in the library doing his homework before the weekend so he could spend the weekend as he liked. So with a plan in hand she went down to the library.

By the time she entered the library, she was happy to find Harry there and without Ron. Hermione was glad that the idiot wasn't there; it would only make things harder. Hermione sighed at the thought of Ron; she didn't like the feelings the redhead brought out in her, it wasn't natural to _hate_ another human being as purely as she did Ronald Weasley after only knowing him for a few weeks. The simple truth was though that he was one of the reasons that her and Harry's friendship was so difficult. Ron didn't like her; he felt that she took some of Harry's time from him. She both couldn't fully hate the redhead for this and despised him further for it. Ron brought out the worst in her, namely, the bossy part of her she was trying to grow out of, so his dislike of her was warranted. On the other hand, if he wasn't such a prat all the time he wouldn't bring that part of her out and it would be moot.

Seeing that Harry was alone, Hermione went up to him, failing to hide her nervous posture, the emotion leaking into her tone as well, something Harry noted. Of course Hermione noticed him noticing and grew more nervous. Another endlessly repeating cycle; her life seemed to be full of them… "Harry, Madam Pomfrey has been looking for you, she wants to see you."

"What does she want to see me about?" Harry asked suspiciously. Why would she be nervous about relaying a massage from Madam Pomfrey, he wondered internally.

"She lost your medical exam results, so she wants to redo the exam." Hermione struggled to keep calm, hoping he would believe her.

Harry was still cautious, Hermione would normally be proud of relaying a message for a Hogwarts Staff member, not nervous. Nonetheless, if Madam Pomfrey needed him for another check-up it would raise too much attention to refuse. "Alright, let me put my things away."

Half a minute later he was following a fidgeting Hermione to the Infirmary.

Once Harry got to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey asked him some invasive questions; mainly about where his scars came from, but also about his diet. As Madam Pomfrey was asking these questions he glanced over at Hermione and, noticing how guilty she looked, realized that she was the one that set this all up. After Madam Pomfrey ran some scans and kindly told him that while there were a few permanent problems, they weren't the sort she couldn't be fixed with a few potions over the next few months. When this treatment was finished it would be as if nothing happened to him and there would be no long term effects to him, physically anyway; he would be the right height and weight with almost no scars left. Harry was annoyed she wouldn't be able to fix the one on his forehead, but he gave it up as a bad job with a sigh.

Once it was over and the two were heading back to the Gryffindor Tower, Harry pulled Hermione into an empty classroom. Once inside Harry turned to look at the downcast and almost fearful looking girl. "Hermione, I'm not mad at you. Well, not really; I know you were trying to help me. In the future, just please don't go behind my back with things. I really don't like being left out of the loop."

Hermione let out the breath she'd been holding before brightening. "I will, Harry. I wanted to in the first place, but I didn't know how to. I saw the signs, but I wasn't sure if they were right or not. I remembered the check-ups we got during our first week and went to Madam Pomfrey and forced the info from her. I wanted to be sure I was right before doing anything, and then I needed to think of how to get you to her without you getting suspicious. I just… I… she _knew_, Harry, or at least suspected. Why didn't she investigate? That's her job!" She raged, rambling as her world view taking a serious blow.

Harry put his hand on her shoulder, and stiffened when she darted forward and hugged him tightly. She wasn't crying, but she was on the brink of doing so, so he let her calm down. He could see what was happening to her, her absolute faith in adults had just been shaken, hard, and she was reeling from it. Eventually pulled away, wiping her eyes of any lingering moisture and smiled at him, an almost inaudible 'Thank you.' coming from her lips.

"Come on Hermione, let's go back to the library and finish our homework." Harry suggested, feeling she probably wanted to put this situation behind her, something he wanted to do as well.

_31st of October 1991_

"It's no wonder no one can stand her." Ron said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor. "She's a nightmare, honestly. Hasn't changed at all…"

Harry grunted lightly as someone pushed past him, sending him into the wall. He looked up and saw a glimpse of Hermione, her face red and her eyes watery before she turned the corner.

"I think she heard you." Harry commented with a hard look directed at the redhead.

"So?" Ron said, looking uncomfortable at the look in Harry's intense green eyes. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

It had been a month since Harry started the potions to help him heal. They'd certainly done their job, his small frame growing outward quickly, gaining some pretty nice muscle tone from the small bits of exercise he did. He and Hermione had grown closer, telling each other about their respective childhoods. Harry held back a lot, but Hermione didn't seem to mind when he'd go silent. Harry had also learned about why she'd been so adamant about helping him; her parents finding the abused child and not being able to help him really affected her. The only problem they had was Ron, he didn't like Hermione that much and would try and pick a fight with her often.

"Ron _I'm_ her friend," Harry said heatedly.

"You're the only one then." Ron replied flippantly, unsure of what he'd done wrong. "You know no one likes her because of her bossiness."

"Ron, you may be my best friend but at times you really are a jackass." Harry spat, his old personality making an appearance as his act was strained from the shear gall that Ron was displaying. "It makes it very difficult to be your friend. Now, I want you to apologize to Hermione when we see her in class."

"But -" Ron began, but before he could say more Harry interrupted. "No buts Ron, until you say you're sorry, don't talk to me again."

However, Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. Harry was growing worried for his friend, but promised himself he would talk to her when he saw her next, assure her that he was her friend and that she really was making great strides to be more social. However, on his way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry overheard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone. Harry frowned as he saw Ron, on the other end of the small group of Gryffindor's making their way into the Great Hall, was completely unaffected by the news, showing no signs of regret.

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

Harry was just helping himself to a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll - in the dungeons - thought you ought to know."

He then sank to the floor in a dead faint. To Harry something felt off about his actions, but his thoughts quickly moved elsewhere, namely, his bushy haired friend being in possible danger.

It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence. "Prefects, lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!" He instructed, sounding surprisingly commanding for a normally so eccentric man.

Percy was in his element. "Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the Troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!" As the first year Gryffindors got together and followed Percy, Harry stared at the older boy in blank amusement. Did he really think orders and organization would keep him safe if a Troll happened to find him?

Regardless, he followed the ginger Prefect. "How could a Troll even get in?" Harry wondered to himself as he climbed the stairs.

"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid. Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke?" Ron said, apparently having forgotten about the no talking rule.

"No, that's not it." Harry said as he shook his head at his friend's ability to jump to conclusions about people. "Peeves may be many things, but he wouldn't put a student's life in danger."

Harry suddenly jerked as he remembered what he'd realized earlier before Percy made him lose his train of thought. "Hermione; she doesn't know about the Troll." Harry said worriedly.

"Who cares." Ron shrugged carelessly, "I'm not going to risk my life for someone I don't like. If you want to save her, be my guest, but I'm not helping."

Harry didn't say anything, but the glare he gave Ron caused the boy to trip over his feet. When he stood back up, Harry was gone, the raven haired boy had blended with the Hufflepuffs that were passing them and then slipped down a deserted side corridor and hurried off toward the girls' bathroom. Harry had just turned the corner when he heard quick footsteps behind him.

Already on high alert, Harry hid behind a large stone Griffin. Peering around it Harry saw Snape. The man's gait was hurried, and he quickly disappeared from view behind the next corner.

"What's he doing? Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?" Harry whispered to himself. Quietly as possible, he crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.

"He's heading for the third floor." Harry muttered to himself, wondering what the ass of a teacher was doing. But then he smelt something awful; it was a foul stench that reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seemed to clean.

And then he heard it; a low grunting and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. As Harry looked down to the end of a passage to the left, something huge moved toward him. He shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.

It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, pointy feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.

The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.

Harry was about to dash off to the girls bathroom where Hermione was reported to be when he froze as he realized the room the Troll had just entered WAS the girls bathroom. In the same moment, he heard a high pitched scream of fright echo down the halls from the room the Troll had lumbered into.

Harry didn't know how he got to the room so quickly, but he launched himself around the doorway an instant later at a full sprint, only to pause as he saw the Troll with its club raised over a terrified looking Hermione. Without a thought he flicked his wrists and hurled two balls of flame at the creatures hand and face.

Harry was magically powerful, incredibly so; he was Voldemort's equal when he was fifteen months old so one of Fate's little games with the mortals, started with a prophesy of all things this time, could be fulfilled. Natural growth had only given Harry more power to work with, and his training with Lucy had fine tuned that power, refined it into something compact; deadlier, and easy and willing to be used.

Troll hide was resistant to magic, but only to a certain degree. The two bursts of fire hit the Trolls right cheek and left hand with a crackling sizzle as the flesh boiled, the magical fire almost ignoring the resistance it met. This made the Troll angrier, causing it to start swinging its club around in anger, destroying the bathroom some more in the process but not harming either of the first years. Seeing this, Harry knew that he had to do something or both him and Hermione could be hurt from the debris that was flying about. Clapping his hands together he combined both of the fire held in each hand and sent the combined blast at the Troll's club hand. This time the Troll screamed in pain and dropped the club as the more powerful bolt of fire did far more damage to not just the skin, but also the muscle beneath. The dropped club scarcely missed the cowering girl below, and stumbled backwards.

Trolls had a very simple mentality, almost animalistic, and like all animals its first reaction to seeing its hand being lit on fire and being burned was 'Fire Bad!' before trying to get away from it. The next reaction was to find the source of the fire and get rid of it in one way or another.

As the long armed creature turned to look for the source the Troll quickly spotted Harry, and its instinctive reaction to fire increased as it saw that Harry's arms were covered up to the shoulder in flame. A pipe from the stall it had destroyed earlier got under its foot and, not paying attention enough to notice it, the Troll fell over backwards.

Harry grinned in a way that was just a few inches to the left of sane as a shot of adrenaline poured into him. He hadn't felt this excited in _ages_, not since he'd committed his last arson and had almost been caught almost a full year ago. His vision was tunnelled as he focused completely on the Troll and he sprinted forward when it fell. Not missing a beat Harry ran up the creature's arm, a ball of heat growing a condensing in his right palm as he did so. His legs bent and he pushed off of the Troll's massive shoulder, the muscle acting almost like a trampoline.

Time seemed to slow as the Troll's eyes rolled down from where they'd been looking confusedly at the ceiling and saw Harry, or rather, the miniature sun he held in his hand. The beast had barely a moment to utter a shocked, 'Rada?' before the orb was slammed into its nose.

An ear-splitting explosion filled the room, alerting the Professors three corridors away.

Back inside the bathroom Harry rolled to a stop, the back of his head hitting the stone wall with a hard thud, next to an incredibly wide eyed Hermione, the girls brain locking up as she tried to handle everything that had just happened. It was probably for the best, if she was in her right mind she would have heard the unhinged, breathless little giggles Harry was releasing as he eyed what remained of the Troll before he broke out into a full blown cackle, but only for a few seconds before he doubled over and started coughing. He'd landed hard on his back, slightly to the side, and his torso burned.

Harry breath hitched as he tried to sit up higher against the wall. His attention was taken from the pain in his chest and the charred, headless remains of the mountain Troll as Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, Snape - who Harry noticed had a limp - and Dumbledore entered the room, only to freeze as they saw the corpse… or the smell had hit them, Harry wasn't quite sure.

"Mr Potter, Ms. Granger, what is going on here!" The Lion's Head of House was the first to get over their shock.

Harry grimaced as he forced himself into a standing position. Hermione tried to answer, but her reply of, "It… he… bwah?" Didn't help much, so Harry took over.

With a boyish grin that he couldn't keep off his face he 'explained'. "Well Professors, as you know Hermione wasn't at any of our classes this afternoon seeing that someone upset her. When I heard from her roommates where she was, I was planning to find her after the Feast if she didn't show up, but when we heard about the Troll I went looking for her."

"Why didn't you tell one of the Professors or Prefects about her?" Snape asked with a sneer, "Trying to get more attention for yourself I bet, just like your father."

"The Troll was in the dungeons, or so the Headmaster said, so how was I, blindly accepting his words, supposed to know I would be lead astray." Harry answered, his voice getting more airy as he spoke, his eyes losing some focus as they wandered, seemingly unable to focus on one thing for long.

Snape grunted, taken off guard by the boy's strange behaviour and almost whimsical speech pattern.

"Now now, don't be grumpy, I'm sure whatever caused that limp of yours in on the third floor is probably very sorry it had to taste your pale arse." Harry giggled at his joke while Snape fumed, trying to ignore the other Professors suppressing chuckles of their own but also giving him a suspicious looks too. "Found Hermione in the bathroom, place was smashed to pieces and the Troll was about to attack her. Then stuff happened and here we are." He accounted cheerfully.

Snape ground his teeth and glared impotently at the rapidly nonsensical child, but Dumbledore pushed the man back. The eccentric Headmaster seemed to find it humorous, because his tone held some amusement as he inquired, "_Stuff_? Don't hold us in suspense my boy, tell us more."

"Oh very well…" Harry ceded magnanimously. "I entered the bathroom when the troll had its club raised, and I froze because Hermione was about to be flattened. Some accidental magic must have happened because the Troll's hand caught fire and he backed away, it got angry and started to swing its club and some more accidental magic happened and some more fire appeared around the Trolls hand again. The brute dropped its club this time, so I guess it hurt it more. I calmed down a little, just a little, enough to realize the Troll had committed a very grave offence, and very much needed to die. Some more accidental magic must have happened, because its head just… exploded. Kpch!" Harry pantomimed an explosion, starting with his fists clenched in front of him before quickly splaying his fingers. He gave a little giggle at his own actions before wincing and moaning, his head lolling to the side. He reached back to feel the back of his head, only to have it come back red.

Flitwick was quick to explain Harry's behaviour. "His magic is depleted; magical exhaustion can make people, hmm… loopy at times. He also has a head injury, we need to get him to Poppy."

Dumbledore nodded absently, more focused on Harry's declaration. The twinkle in his eyes dimmed as he declared gravely, "My boy, nothing _deserves_ to die. One mustn't be so flippant about the taking of life."

"That's where we differ in opin… opininy… moral thingies, I guess. Don't have many friends, gotta keep 'em alive; anything that threatens 'em gets to die; simple." Harry said decisively, his voice slurring lightly as his eyes closed. His breathe hitched and his eyes shot back open as Hermione, his words sinking in and snapping her out of her comatose state, slammed into his side, her arms wrapping around his torso tight enough to take the air from his lungs.

"We'll talk later. Ms. Granger, Mr. Potter is in no condition to walk on his own, can you support him so we can may you both to the infirmary." McGonagall butted in.

Hermione nodded info Harry's chest, but only her fellow first year heard her shaky but determined whisper of, "Always."

Harry smiled, far too out of it to even begin to think about what she'd meant and started walking as she lead him somewhere, mostly leaning on her. Hermione had trouble, but voiced none of it as she followed the Hogwarts Staff, ignoring Harry as he started blaming Ron for everything, and not just getting them both in this situation, but also for completely unrelated things, like why it was so cold in the castle, why it rained so much, and why Quidditch made no bloody sense.

_25th of December 1991_

After everything was all said and done Gryffindor was fifty points higher, Harry had been diagnosed with a minor concussion, a cracked rib, and magical exhaustion. The latter of which had forced Harry to stay in the Hospital Wing, to make sure he both recovered okay and to make sure he didn't use any magic until his reserves had replenished. The rumour mill painted Harry as a story book hero for something he'd actually done for once (helped along by a hesitant Hermione telling her room mates of what happened later that night; Lavender had found the story incredibly romantic and had told it to everyone in her budding gossip network), and Ron had detention for a week and was forced to apologize to Hermione. His apology as not at all convincing, but Hermione knew that was the best she was going to get, and that while the friendship had taken a serious blow, he was still Harry's friend, so she accepted it.

When Harry was released he found that the students, Hufflepuff in particular, a lot friendlier towards him. He mainly gotten along with Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot, and Cedric Diggory. Cedric only occasionally dropped by, having taken Susan and Hannah under his wing and watched out for them, but he and Harry talked whenever he did join them for a meal and it eventually bore a friendship. Hermione was also quite clingy, but Harry was completely out of his element with the new found flood of people being so nice to him and he didn't mind in the slightest. Hermione was just as out of her element as he was, and that empathy between them was something Harry appreciated greatly, the knowledge that he wasn't the only one confused and lost with the situation was nice. Ron was almost forgotten, but somehow managed to worm his way back into Harry's growing social circle. Harry wasn't one to forgive, nor forget, easily though, and kept a closer eye on Ron's actions.

During his stay in the Hospital Wing, Harry accidentally stumbled upon a new skill. He was bored out of his mind, he had nothing to do and was wondering what Madam Pomfrey was saying to herself in her office. Suddenly, the candle she was using next to the parchment she was writing on flickered violently before settling down. In the same instant he could hear what she was saying. It was warped at first, the matron's voice warbled and the volume fluctuated heavily, but Harry concentrated harder and listened to her dictate the day's events to herself. What she was saying was rather ordinary, just dictation of the days events for her journal.

It took a few moments before Harry realized he was hearing Madam Pomfrey by the flame in her office. After thinking this over Harry was thoroughly excited about the new ability. The potential for spying was quite high, Especially in the magical world where candles and torches were everywhere.

Before he knew it, it was Christmas time. No one could blame him for losing track of time; he was training his new ability, as well as touching upon his old ones, when he was able to, to make sure he hadn't grown rusty. He was also training Aneira to use her budding ice manipulation. She couldn't do much, granted, but spamming javelins of ice wasn't too difficult. Since her powers grew with age, Harry settled on helping her learn accuracy and endurance.

The bond that the two was growing nicely as well, Harry could now feel her emotions if he tapped into their link. Harry couldn't spend as much time with Hedwig as he could his Tigran, but the bond with her had reached the same level, oddly enough. Even though Harry did try and spend time with her, he knew it wasn't the same with Aneira, the bond was different. Harry was amused to note that Hedwig acted quite jealous; she would try and out do Aneira in any way she could. She was known as the fastest owl in school already, arriving in the morning with mail or the Daily Prophet several minutes before the other owls in the morning, and always managed to look her best. She would also give him dead animals as presents.

Apart from his training, he and his friend's study schedule increased, something not many people were happy about, not even him at first, but after his first O, with a glowing compliment from Professor Flitwick about taking after his mother, he was more than happy to stay up even later than Hermione to get a good grade, and thus follow in his mothers' footsteps, who, while a prodigy with Charms, was quite skilled at just about every branch of magic.

With so much of his time being taken up, with school work and exploring Hogwarts, he didn't think much about his darker goals. In fact, he enjoyed being normal; he had friends, he was doing well in school - and more importantly he was proud of this fact, since he was living up to his mother's reputation - and had no reason to become an evil being now. He decided it would be best to try and stay normal, and not run the risk of ruining everything that he had right now.

During this time, Harry learned that the object that was stolen from Gringotts was now at Hogwarts. The object was in fact on the third floor corridor. Thanks to Hagrid, who let the information slip, they knew that the object belonged to someone named Nicholas Flamel. They also learned that the object was protected by a Cerberus, and thanks to yet another slip from Hagrid, there was other things protecting the object. So when they weren't doing school work, or doing homework - or in Harry's case training or doing a few pranks every now and then - Hermione and Harry were trying to find out who Nicholas Flamel was and what the object was. As they searched Harry had a feeling that he'd heard or read about the man before, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember where. They had to stop their search when the school broke up for the Christmas Holidays.

Now it was Christmas, and Harry was asleep. This lasted for only a few more moments before he was rudely shaken by Ron.

"Harry, Harry, wake up mate." Ron said cheerfully.

Harry glared hot death at the redhead, half lidded and sleepy eyes boring into the other boy and he growled, "Ron I'm going to smother you with a pillow if you don't tell me why the bloody hell you're waking me up." Harry usually woke up earlier than the rest of his dorm mates for training, which that wasn't saying much considering who they were, but he was a person who deeply loved his sleep. Anybody who disturbed him before his body was ready to wake up by itself did so at their own peril.

Ron, either too excited or too stupid to realize his life was in very real danger, continued jumping up and down. "It's Christmas Harry! Presents! Presents!" He yelled.

Harry felt his eyes twitch, the cheek muscle under his eye trembling completely on its own. That did it; he was going to take over the world using the bloodiest means possible so this kind of cheer would never again wake him up. Yes… that was a perfect plan.

Thankfully for the first year male Gryffindor's, the potential multiple-homicide was averted when Harry grunted, rolled over, and fell back asleep, completely forgetting about his plans of mass genocide against people with too much holiday spirit.

Ron pouted, but was far too distracted by the thought of presents to bother trying to wake his best mate up a second time. Presents!

It was about noon by the time Harry awoke, and he was happy to see that Ron wasn't in the room_. 'Most likely down in the Great Hall for lunch.' _Harry thought as he looked at the time and shook his head in disgust. Harry often wondered why he kept up with Ron with the way he acts often. _'God forbid the bottomless pit misses a meal.'_

As he got dressed, he was shocked to see a small pile of gifts at the end of the bed. To be honest, Harry wasn't expecting any gifts, he never gotten one before so why now? As he opened the first gift, he saw it was from Ron, it was a box of Chocolate Frogs. However, as Harry opened the box, he was disgusted to see that a few of the Frogs were missing, _'The fucking pig, I hope he choked on them.' _Harry thought darkly.

The next gift was from Molly Weasley, prompting feelings of confusion and bafflement.He'd never met Ron's mother and she was already sending him gifts? Harry wondered what the hell was going on. As he opened the gift - he had no idea why he didn't throw it away - he found it had a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of home-made fudge inside it. There was a note saying that Ron told them that he didn't expect any gifts for Christmas. Although Harry knew that Ron was trying to be nice and that, he was still angry that Ron would tell people that Harry didn't know about his personal affairs, so he threw the gift aside in disgust; he would be having words with Ron about this soon. But not today, it was Christmas and he didn't want the trouble. And so he began to open the rest of the gifts that he got.

The next gift was wrapped in thick brown paper with the words To Harry, from Hagrid, scrawled across it. Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Harry blew it - it sounded a bit like an owl. Harry was grateful for the gift, he and Hermione spent some time with the giant size of a man, apart for liking dangerous animals and cooking awful food, he was an okay kind of a man.

The next was a very small parcel which contained a note:_We received your message and enclose your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia._Taped to the note was a fifty-pence piece. Harry found this strange seeing that they'd never give him anything before, maybe it was because he wasn't coming home that he got it. Whatever the case, Harry just threw it in the bin, he had no need for it.

His next present also contained candy; a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione. From Susan, Hannah and Cedric he got boxes of pumpkin cakes, he smiled at the gifts. He'd actually, in a rare moment of genuine generosity, purchased the three Puffs Chocolate Frogs and Hermione a book voucher for Flourish and Blotts with an enclosed note saying that Hedwig had agreed to help her purchase the books.

Harry picked the last gift and weighed it. It was very light and felt like some kind of cloth, so he unwrapped it.

Something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds. A note landed on his foot, so he picked it up and read it: _Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well. A Very Merry Christmas to you__._

There was no signature. With a shrug he picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into material. Harry realized this was a cloak, not any cloak, but one that his father once owned. Putting it on he walked over to the mirror and was shocked when he saw his reflection; only it wasn't his fully body he saw in the mirror, it was just his head, seemingly floating in mid-air. He pulled the cloak over his head and his reflection vanished completely. If he didn't already have the ability to become invisible himself, he would be more apprehensive about the gift. Still, he was grateful for the gift none the less, not for what it was, but because it belonged to his father. Seeing as he didn't want anyone else to know about it, Harry put it back in his trunk before he went down for lunch.

Now since nobody that had sent him gifts were currently at Hogwarts, and he hadn't managed to corner Ron to talk to him, Harry spent the rest of the day enjoying himself. It wasn't until later that night that Harry thought back about his father's cloak and the message that came with it, the three words in the note specifically; 'Use it well'. He could have kicked himself as he thought about it, all this time he was able to become invisible himself, and he never used it to go to one place that he and Hermione hadn't looked for Nicholas Flamel: The Restricted Section of the school library. And all it took for him to think of it was his father's cloak - he felt somewhat foolish for not thinking of it sooner.

So using his father's cloak instead of becoming invisible himself, Harry went down to the Restricted Section to look for Nicholas Flamel. However, as he tried to open one of the books in Restricted Section, that book, along with the rest of the books on that shelf screamed, as if they knew someone was there that wasn't meant to be there. Before he could do anything, Filch came into the library and looked around for whoever could be in there. Frightened of being caught, more by the thought of having his father's cloak taken away from him than detentions or point loss, Harry ran out of the library. However, Filch must of used one of many short cuts in Hogwarts, because before he knew it Filch was in front of him, and he wasn't alone: Snape was with him and he was telling him that someone was in the Restricted Section. Seeing that he was close to them, he had to put his back against the wall and hope not to get caught. Lucky for him though, Harry fell into one of the many empty rooms of Hogwarts.

As he sighed in relief, he looked around to see if anything of interest was inside. That when he saw a large bronze mirror, with strange lettering at the top of the mirror: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_. Gibberish, really. That thought triggered something and Harry's brain suddenly made a connection between mirrors and gibberish and he remembered reading about how ambulances had the word Ambulance backwards on the front so people in front of them could read it when they looked behind them using their rear-view mirror. Without looking through a mirror, the word 'ecnalubmA' printed on the front just looked like gibberish.

With that in mind it was easy to figure out that the letters said '_I show not your face but your heart's desirE_'. Thoroughly curious as to what his heart's desire was, Harry looked into the mirror. On the mirror's surface he saw himself, his family - including his imaginary twin - and behind them were a few more people; none of which he recognized. Harry suspected they were other family members that he wasn't aware of. They were standing in front of burning buildings of all things, with bodies laying about, some were even on fire. In the mirror, Harry saw Lucy dancing around in the flames laughing as she did so.

Harry was intrigued by the mirror, and to his chagrin kept coming back to it for the next few nights. It wasn't the mirror itself that was pulling him back, it was like it was something else. Also, he had to think about the image behind the people he guessed was his parents, it had been a while since he thought about being a Dark Lord. He liked being normal, he had friends and he didn't want anything to ruin it and so it looked like he'd forgotten his heart desire so he couldn't lose what he wanted to keep.

On the third night of visiting the mirror, to see his family and to watch his sister, who he missed, dance and laugh in the flames, Dumbledore stepped out of the shadows.

"So, back again, Harry?" Albus Dumbledore said, sitting at one of the desks. Harry must have walked straight past him, he had to wonder how he'd missed him; Harry was normally very good at spacial awareness. Not even his almost blind journey to get to the mirror would have made him to miss the old man.

"I didn't see you, sir." Harry said, a bit annoyed with himself for not seeing him.

"Strange how near-sighted being invisible can make you." Dumbledore said with a smile. "So, you, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised."

"I didn't know it was called that, sir," Harry said honestly, "but I do know what it does; it shows a person's heart's desire. It showed my family. To be expected, I suppose; I haven't thought too much about my future yet so I have no grand aspirations as of yet." He analysed, giving a half-truth.

"I'm shocked that you guessed is so easily." Dumbledore said a bit surprised that Harry had figured it out.

"It helped that I was able to figure out the writing on the mirror, 'I show not your face but your heart's desire'." Harry admitted humbly with a smile of his own. "I'm sure if Ron was to look into the mirror it would show him stepping out of his brothers shadows, maybe earning the Captaincy for the House Team, something Charlie never did, but came close to doing, if I remember what he told me right."

"You're right young Harry," Dumbledore nodded, he couldn't believe that the young boy would figure the mirror out so completely without instruction. "I should warn you Harry, this mirror will give us neither knowledge nor truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible. For this reason, the Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever _do_ run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that."

"True sir, but what's life without a dream to work towards?" Harry reasoned.

"Very true young Harry," Dumbledore said, impressed the young man would be so thoughtful, "Now, why don't you put that admirable cloak back on and get off to bed?"

Harry stood up.

"Professor Dumbledore? Can I ask you something?"

"Obviously, you've just done so," Dumbledore smiled. "You may ask me one more thing, however."

"What do you see when you look in the mirror?"

"Myself? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks."

Harry stared.

"One can never have enough socks." Dumbledore said sagely. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books."

It was only when he was back in bed that it struck Harry that Dumbledore might not have been quite truthful. But then, he thought, as he tossed Ron's rat across the room from where he'd been sleeping on Harry's pillow, it had been quite a personal question.

_**TO BE CONTINUED! **_

_**Authors Note:**_ Here end the second chapter of Vulcan, I hope you like it, and if you did, please take a few moments more and let me know what you think.

I want to give a special thanks to Sicerness my Beta Reader for this my favourite part of the story: Harry felt his eyes twitch, the cheek muscle under his eye trembling completely on its own. That did it; he was going to take over the world using the bloodiest means possible so this kind of cheer would never again wake him up. Yes… that was a perfect plan.

I don't know about you lot, but that was my favourite part I laughed when I read it the first time.


	4. Chapter 4 - First Year: Part 2!

'_Thoughts'_

_**Chapter 4…**_

_5th of January 1992:_

It was the evening of the last day of the Christmas Holidays, and the students that had left for the Holidays were returning. As Harry was going down to the Great Hall for the Welcome Back Feast he found himself behind a small group of what looked liked second or third year Ravenclaws. Not really in a rush, Harry stayed behind them. As he did, he heard a black haired girl of the group say, "I'm so glad that I'm back… don't get me wrong, I like home and that, but Hogwarts is something else, it's like home away from home."

"I know what you mean Jenny, there's something about Hogwarts that make it feel like home." A blonde haired girl agreed. Harry himself found he agreed with them; there was something about Hogwarts that made it feel like home instead of a school. "It's a shame we have to deal with that idiot Weasley again." The same blonde haired girl said.

"I know what you mean Lou." A dark red haired boy grumbled. "Just because he's friends with Potter, Weasley thinks he can order us around. As if being friends with Potter can get him whatever he wants, and even get him out of trouble."

"What's worse? It's actually working, people can be so stupid sometimes…" Jenny sighed, massaging the bridge of her nose. "I saw Cho helping Weasley with his homework before the holidays, all because she wants to get into Potter's pants eventually. I really don't get it, that girls a credit to our House when it comes to grades, but she can be so dense sometimes; yeah, sure, helping Weasley with his homework would maybe get her into Potter's social circle, but she could just as easily offer Potter himself help."

As they walked away Harry stood there in shock, it seemed Ron was doing things behind his back Harry didn't agree with. He hated being used and Ron was using his name for his own gain. Harry suddenly felt less hungry, and decided to return to the Gryffindor Tower, where he would wait for Ron to return and he would have a few words with the youngest male Weasley.

_**o0OoO0o**_

It was a few hours later before the Gryffindors returned to the Tower. Since Ron wasn't in the Tower, Harry had went up to his room to read for a bit, he was making good headway in his history book, and the way he saw it the farther ahead he was, the more justified him either sleeping or doing something else in History of Magic class was. When he heard the majority of the Gryffindors enter the Common Room Harry finished the paragraph he was reading and marked the page he was on with a mark. Setting the book on his bed Harry stretched and made his way down the dorm stares, his shoulder's squared for the confrontation that would likely ensue downstairs.

_**o0OoO0o**_

"I still think you're full of shit Ron." Seamus Finnegan said for the third time as Ron tried to brag to him.

"I swear it's the truth, Harry wanted all the credit for the troll, so he forced me to go back to the Common Room!" Ron argued. He wouldn't normally be talking like this in the Common Room - too close to Harry - but Seamus wasn't buying his lies and if one thing could be said about Ronald Billius Weasley, it's that he was stubborn.

"Ron I-oh…" Seamus started, only to look over Ron's shoulder, his eyes widening before he turned and quickly headed towards the opposite end of the Common Room. Ron finally shutting his trap, as well as Harry's expression, a look that could be described as 'calm as a bomb', by several Muggleborns in the room, attracted the attention of almost every Gryffindor in the Common Room.

Ron turned around, only to pale as he came face to face with Harry Potter. Everyone in the room could sense the power coming off the last Potter. "Forced you back to the Common Room, huh?" Harry parroted.

Ron laughed nervously, looking anywhere but at the dark haired boy in front of him. "I was just-Seamus thought that-"

He stammered. Harry was quick to shut him down, "Funny, I distinctly remember you said, and I quote; _'Who cares, I'm not going to risk my life for someone I don't like. If you want to save her, be my guest, but I'm not helping.'_ you then shrugged your shoulder, all but dismissing Hermione's very life as an annoyance, and fled back to the Common Room with everybody else."

Ron's ears went pink at having his own words repeated back to him, with perfect inflection no less. "Well… well…" Ron sputtered, his face rapidly matching his ears as he tried and failed to think up something to say to either shift the blame, or weasel his way out of it as he saw the shocked and horrified looks on the other Gryffindor's faces. As always, his mouth moved without his brain being able to even begin to keep up, and words spilled from his mouth. "I have a family that I need to get back to, I can't afford to just throw my life away for some-sore some bossy bint!" Ron screamed.

Harry looked over his shoulder as he heard a gasp. One look confirmed it was Hermione, looking terribly hurt. "Hmph, I'd pick that 'bossy bint' to watch my back any day. Better than a back stabbing, untrustworthy, attention seeking piece of shit like you." He said as he turned back and levelled an even stare back at the redhead. "You're nothing but a prat using my so called fame to get what he-"

However, Harry, who was still not used to being in a magic environment, was taken off guard as Ron, instead of charging at him to throw a punch, pulled his wand and shot a spell at him. Harry's natural reaction was to dodge the off-yellow coloured bolt of magic, so that's what he did; he leaned sideways, letting it fly past him without a thought.

He realized his mistake a second later as he heard Hermione yelp. With a backwards look he saw her holding a hand over her mouth, her wide terrified eyes locked on her hand. Harry didn't know what was wrong, but he felt the rage he'd been holding snap free of the restraints he'd kept it under.

Ron stepped back as Harry turned back around, his expression murderous. His voice, despite the rest of his posture, was still level and calm though. "Do you know what most people think of Wizard's in the Muggle World, Ron?" He asked.

Ron tried to muster his courage and be brave, a Gryffindor, but all he managed to do was squeak out a weak, "What?" as Harry advanced on him.

"That they're squishy."

_**o0OoO0o**_

McGonagall hurried to her House's Common Room as the wards tied to her, as the Head of House Gryffindor, reported hostile spell fire. One look and the Fat Lady swung open, and the sight that lay within caused the elderly witch to pause.

Harry Potter had Ronald Weasley pinned on the ground, but not before Ron was able to throw a few spells at Harry. They were easily dodged, but the spells damaged the Common Room - it was pure luck that none of the spells hit anyone. With all the spells that he cast, the taller redhead still found himself on his belly with his arms twisted behind his back. McGonagall just caught the end of what Harry was saying. "- if I ever hear you spreading lies about me again, trying to use my name for your own personal greedy gain, or attacking someone like you did, I'll break your bloody arms." He declared before slamming the other boy's face into the floor.

What was worse, in McGonagall's eyes, was that it looked like the majority of her House was just sitting back and watching this happen. Their expressions varied, but most of them looked happy about such an event taking place. "Mister Weasley, Mister Potter! What is the meaning of this?!"

Harry looked up, not at all surprised, or at least he wasn't showing it if he did feel that way, and stated calmly, "Ron here has been spreading lies about me, using my fame and his position as my 'best mate' to try and get things or favours from others, and when I confronted him about it, he threw a spell at me, I was able to dodge it, but I didn't realize that Hermione was behind me, and she was hit by it."

"Is this true?" The Gryffindor Head of House asked the gathered lions. There were nods all around, so she was forced to accept it as truth. "Mister Weasley, two months detention for slander and cursing a fellow student, they will be spent with Professor Snape and with Filch, helping with whatever they need from you, and you'll help them without magic unless they say otherwise. Mister Potter, detention until you fix the damage to the Common Room." She declared.

The lions sighed as they realized they hadn't lost House Points and started to disburse back to their dorms. Harry got off of Ron, not that the boy was in any condition to do anything but fall limp and cry.

"Professor, I request that we discuss this later, Hermione need to be taken to the hospital wing, and since I was the one who dodged the curse, not considering that someone was behind me, I feel somewhat responsible for what happened to her." Harry asked.

McGonagall was about to speak up, but she saw one of her two favourite students - not that she would tell anyone that, the first being one of the boy's fighting - with teeth so large they came down to her collar bone. She agreed to Harry's request with a nod; she would yell at them all later, Hermione needed medical treatment.

"Thank you." Harry replied as he hurried over, taking Hermione's hand in his own, and lead her out the portrait entrance.

_5th February 1992:_

It'd been a month since the fight with Ronald Weasley, and a lot had changed for Harry. At the moment, he found himself in the school library with not only with Hermione, Susan, Hannah and Cedric but also with two new friends he'd made recently; Su Li and Katie Bell.

The night of the fight, when he took Hermione to see Madam Pomfrey, in which Hermione tricked the School Healer into shrinking her front teeth. As they walked back to the Gryffindor Tower, when asked, Hermione admitted that she always hated her front teeth because they made her look like a beaver.

In addition to this, as they were heading back to the Tower Hermione also told him that she'd asked her parents if he could stay for the summer. After explaining why, telling them about Harry's home life, her parents agreed that he could to stay with them over the summer. Although he was upset that Hermione told her parents about his past, he admitted it was necessary and was happy that he wouldn't have to stay at the Dursleys during the summer. In fact he was so grateful of the idea, Harry had hugged her tightly, giving her a taste of her own medicine for once, which was also the first hug Harry had ever initiated, and thanked her profusely. To make sure things were agreed upon by all parties even remotely involved Harry wrote his relatives. Needless to say they were more than happy to get rid of the freak for the summer and hoped to never see him again.

When they got back to the Gryffindor Tower it was pretty late, so the two friends went to bed.

The next day, Harry got up early to clean the Common Room so he wouldn't have to worry about it later on. But as Harry was cleaning the Common Room, he was shocked to see that as the other Gryffindors got up and began to help him clean the room. Neville Longbottom was the first to approach him as he cleaned with the intent to offer him a hand of friendship, which was followed by the Weasley Twins, Fred and George, and the Chaser Trio, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell, who were sometimes referred to as the Crimson Vixens both during matches and by their adoring male fans, even off-pitch. When Harry asked why they were helping him, they informed him that most of the Gryffindors had gotten sick of Ron's mouth and they were glad to help Harry because he stood up to the prat. And so in repayment, they were helping him to tidy the Common Room up. With the older years helping with magic it took less than an hour to fix.

A few days later, as Harry and his new friends were studying in the library with Hermione, Susan, Hannah and Cedric in a Study Group that they started, a quiet girl from Ravenclaw named Su Li joined them. It turned out that she was the main person that Ron went to for help, since she was the shyest person in Ravenclaw - or rather, the most inexperienced at dealing with other people - and that the threat Ron made of getting Harry to make problems for her family. Su admitted she didn't fully believe him but it was better to 'not rock the boat', so to speak, so she complied. Harry apologized, feeling guilty for not putting a stop to it sooner and both agreed that it was best to forget about the entire thing and move on rather than dwell on it; they'd both learned a lesson from the situation.

They weren't the only friends he'd gained, but they were the closest.

As the month passed Harry and Hermione was still looking for who Nicholas Flamel was - Harry felt that he'd read the name somewhere before but for the life of him he couldn't remember where.

So it was the 5th of February and Harry, along with Hermione, Susan, Hannah, Cedric, Su and Katie, were in the library doing their homework - the others were doing something else at the time. It was near dinner time and Harry was getting another few books to look for the Nicholas Flamel. But as he got back to his table with them, Katie asked him seeing that they won't the books for their homework, "Harry, what are you looking for? For the last few months you've been looking at different books, books that have no subject to our homework. So what are you looking for?"

After some thought he realized that all this time he had group of people who knew more about the Magical World then him and Hermione, likely combined, and he hadn't even asked for help. He could have kicked himself for not asking them sooner, especially the Hufflepuffs, since he knew them the longest. With a sigh, Harry was about to speak when Su noticed the books he was setting down. "Not homework… third floor corridor?" Su reasoned in her strange way of speech; she spoke as few words as she could get away with while getting her point across. Harry never bothered to ask why, but he could make some assumptions based on knowing that English was her second language and she was possibly self conscious about her lack of fluency.

Harry blinked. "Ah, yeah. Whatever's being kept there has something to do with Nicholas Flamel. I was going to ask for help, me and Hermione haven't had any luck."

"Flamel…?" Su mumbled as she looked down, deep in thought.

As she did, Susan said, "I think I've heard of him, but I can't remember from where." A few of the others nodded, in the same boat as the redhead.

"I know what you mean, I've been nagged by that feeling for a while now." Harry said with a defeated sigh.

Su suddenly sat up and walked away, causing the other's to look at each other in confusion. The petite girl returned a minute later with a book, which she opened to a specific page and set in front of Harry. "Thanks Su, that was really quick. Way to make me feel even worse for not asking my wonderful friends for help." He joked with a chuckled.

Su nodded, holding a straight face as she returning his joke with a, "Welcome." before she smiled back at him lightly, causing the rest of the table to laugh.

Harry grumbled and used one hand to prop up the left side of the book to read the title; _The History of Alchemy_. Harry skimmed the article quickly before groaning, his head falling into the pages.

"What, is it something we should have realized weeks ago?" Hermione inquired.

"Not sure about that, but I remember where I heard the name at least." Harry said flatly. He then put his hand into his pocket and pulled out his Chocolate Frog Cards; which he had, coincidentally, brought to show Cedric so they could compare collections, both being relatively new to the collecting business. He pulled one out and read the back of it: "'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, _and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel' _No wonder we haven't found him in the books we looked into; they were all published recently. Listen to this, _'As you know, the ancient study of alchemy can do used for many things, as long as you remember the one simple rule: to create, something of equal value must be lost. This is the principal of equivalent exchange. This rule is the most important rule there is in alchemy, and there is no way around it or so it was believed. You see, through alchemy, there is one way you can break this rule at no risk to yourself, and this is to make a Philosopher's Stone, also known as the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. _

"_It is the hopes of all Alchemists that they too can one day make a Stone of their own. For the prestige of making one, the gold the Stone can produce, and most importantly to many; the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal._

"_Although the specifics of _how_ to make the Stone have been lost though time, some say for the better. There have been many reports of Alchemists over the centuries that have been able to make their own Philosophers Stones. However, when investigated further, all these reports were found to be false. There is only one true Stone currently in existence and it belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel."_

There was silence for a few moments before Hermione said, "Wow, who would have thought that such a thing would be hidden in a school?"

"What sane person would? Who would keep such a trouble magnet in a school full of children?" Harry asked darkly. "I understand that Hogwarts is meant to be the safest place apart for Gringotts, but Hogwarts is full of children; children that could be used as hostages, or hurt somehow if someone wanted to steal the Stone. I'm not saying that they would, but if it was someone who didn't care about children or didn't want to wait for a good time to strike, they could kill everyone here to get it."

As much they were in awe at the fact that the Philosopher's Stone was real and at Hogwarts, they were more horrified as the truth of what Harry was suggesting truly sank in. What if someone did want the Stone bad enough that they would be willing to kill everyone in Hogwarts for it? They all shuddered at the thought and wondered what Professor Dumbledore was thinking.

"Harry, I know that this might be strange, but maybe Professor Dumbledore has something planned?" Hermione suggested, still believing that authority figures like Dumbledore knew what they were doing.

"Something planned or not, the Headmaster is putting the school in danger." Harry shot down with a shake of his head. He still couldn't believe Hermione still believed that authority knew what they were doing; something that seemed completely untrue for basically every adult in the magical world. "That sounds like the exact opposite of his job description. What if some Dark Wizard learned about it and decides the lives of a thousand kids is nothing in the face of eternal life? What then?"

"So what do you think we should do about it?" Cedric asked.

"Simple, I think we should go get the Stone now before someone decides to get it." Harry began to explain his plan, but was interrupted by Hermione, "What!? Harry that would be…"

But Harry held up his hand up to stop her talking, "Theft, I know. I also know that while it's wrong to steal, I can't think of anything else we can do." Hermione looked like she wanted to say something, but after several tries she looked down in defeat, she couldn't think of anything. "If we do it without anybody else knowing, it'll also be another layer of security in case someone else with far darker intentions decides to go after it; they'll think it's still there, but in actuality it'll either be with us, or mailed to the Flamels if such a thing is possible." Harry laid out his plan.

Su nodded in agreement. "Proactive. Need alibi."

Harry hummed in thought. "Right…" He was silent for several moments before he took a deep breath and laid out his thoughts, "Okay, Cedric, Hannah, Katie, I think you two should stay behind."

Cedric was quick to object. "I don't mean this condescendingly, but wouldn't it be best to have someone older and more experienced go along?"

"Normally I would say yes, but it's common knowledge that you've become sort of a big brother figure to Susan and Hannah, a role that most would assume would spread to the rest of the Study Group. Not only that, but you take your role seriously, like an unofficial third year Prefect. If you say that we were studying in the back of the library all day, backed up by Hannah if need be, you'd be hard pressed to find someone that won't believe you." Harry explained.

Cedric blinked, looking embarrassed but pleased. "I had no idea my actions had gained a reputation. Thanks for the compliment Harry." He said with happy smile.

Harry returned the smile with a, "I'm only telling the truth. Worst case scenario is we're not back within a few hours and you need to get creative. As for myself, Hermione, Susan and Su, we all have strengths that will help us avoid a 'most gruesome death', which I'm convinced is just the Headmaster being dramatic. Hermione is good at Transfiguration, Su is good at Charms, Susan's second only to Neville in Herbology."

"Why do you think they're the skills you'll need?" Hannah inquired.

"Well apart from Hagrid's pet Cerberus-" They were made aware that it was a Cerberus from other students who looked behind the door of the forbidden corridor, they also learned that it was named Fluffy, of all things. "-I doubt that's the only thing protecting the Stone, I think the other Professors would set something up." Harry reasoned.

"That makes sense, but what about Potions?" Susan wondered. "If you're right and the Professors are helping to protect the Stone. Wouldn't Snape have a hand in it too?"

"Yes I would think so, but I think out of the four of us, we can clear that protection too," explained Harry.

Hermione picked up on his train of though. "I have to agree, we're all good at potions, so whatever Snape's defence, , unless it is as good as it should be - so that only the Professors can get past it - we should be able to get through it. I'm more book smart than anybody here - no offence Su -" She said to the Ravenclaw at the table. Su shook her head and waved her off, assuring her she wasn't offended. "- I might have read something on potions that we might face. Susan and Su are well versed in different but powerful forms of combat magic, and Harry is a natural leader. Even if he doesn't want to admit it." She finished with a teasing smile as the rest of the table laughed. It was well known how humble Harry could be.

Then after a thought about the tasks they might face, Harry asked, "Does anyone know how to get past a Cerberus?"

"I think I have read before that playing soft music would make a Cerberus full asleep upon hearing it," said Cedric.

"Good," said Harry.

"So when are you thinking of going to get the Stone?" asked Katie.

"I say now, sooner the Stone is out of the school, the better I'll feel." Harry declared firmly. "We've been lucky so far, I don't want to push that luck, so I say we get rid of the Stone now. Or would you rather wait for some mad man to come and kill us all to get it?"

"But maybe nothing will happen, nothing has happened yet." Hermione stalled desperately, her common sense and her blind devotion to following the rules warring.

"Again, that's only through luck, and I don't want to push it." Harry countered gently. "If there's no other disagreement to this, I'll grab my flute and I'll meet you three near the corridor." Seeing no argument, Harry left the library to not only get his flute, but also Aneira, just in case they needed the extra protection. Before he left, he warned Cedric that if Susan wasn't back before ten he should inform the one of the professors, as something bad might have happened.

_**o0OoO0o**_

It was about half an hour before Harry got to the third floor corridor with his flute and Aneira, but as he got there he saw that the corridor was empty. As he wondered if Filch or one of the Professors caught them, he felt himself being pulled into a classroom. As he turned around, his wand halfway out, he stopped as he noticed that the person who pulled him into the room was Su, with Hermione and Susan standing behind her.

"Sorry we scared you," Susan said apologetically, "but Filch was around and we had to hide in here so he wouldn't find us. Why have you brought your cat with you? How can she be any help?" Susan asked suddenly when she saw Aneira.

"She can help a lot more then you think Susan," Harry said with a smirk. "Aneira's not just a cat, she'd a Tigran." As if she knew what her Master wanted, Aneira jumped out of Harry's arms and onto the ground, where she began to transform into her Tigran form.

Once she turned into a tiger, the girls looked at her in shock. Over the last few months thanks to the potions he was taking he now was about 5'2, and although she was still a 'kitten', in her Tigran form, she just came up to his waist, being around 3'6. She hadn't stopped growing though, and if what he read was true by the time she stopped growing she would be about 4'10 to 5 feet tall; big enough to ride if she allowed it.

"Very useful." Su echoed as she eyed the transformed feline with a calculating eye.

"So, if there's nothing else, shall we?" Harry gestured towards the door, an amused smile on his face as Aneira transformed back into her kitten form and jumped back into her Master's arms.

_**o0OoO0o**_

As the four children and one cat walked to the forbidden corridor, Su and Harry kept an eye out for Filch, his cat, and professors, as they didn't want to explain what they were up to. As they headed towards their destination Harry found it strange. He'd thought that something as important as the Philosophers Stone would warrant a guard standing vigil in the corridor, at the very least, but there was nothing…

As they reached the location that was destined to give them 'a most painful death' all Harry found guarding the door was… well, the lock on the door itself. He was terribly underwhelmed by the whole experience. "So any ideas how to open this?" He asked blandly.

"According to the rumours I've heard a simple _Alohomora_ will open it." Susan answered.

Harry frowned as he did so; this made no sense, nothing to protect the corridor from being entered and a door locked not with some massive, complex and advanced locking spell, but one that can be undone by a first year charm? As they entered the corridor there was a low, rumbling growl. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, even though it couldn't see them.

Quickly, Harry put Hagrid's flute to his lips and blew, hoping that this would work or they could be dog food. Harry played a soft tune, one that he'd been practicing since Christmas. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased - it tottered on its paws and fell to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep.

"Wonderful." Su complimented as they kept listening to the soft music.

"I have to agree Harry, that was wonderful, you play good." Susan agreed as she looked around. Finding what she was looking for, she said with a pointed finger, "There it is." The other three were right behind her as Susan bent down and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swung up and open.

"What can you see?" Hermione asked Susan anxiously.

"Nothing, its pitch black, there's no way of climbing down; we'll just have to drop." The 'Puff answered.

Harry, who was still playing the flute, waved at Susan to get his attention and pointed at himself.

"You want to go first? Are you sure?" said Susan. "I don't know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Hermione so she can keep him asleep."

Harry handed the flute over. In the few seconds' silence, the dog grumbled and twitched, but the moment Hermione began to play, it fell back into its deep sleep.

Harry climbed over it and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom. He lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at Su, who was wordlessly gazing down at him. "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Get some help to get me out."

"Right." Su agreed, the slightest hesitation in her voice.

"See you in a minute, I hope…" Harry half-joked as he let go. Cold, damp air rushed past him as he fell down, down, down and -

FLUMP. With a funny, muffled sort of thump he landed on something soft. He sat up and felt around, his eyes not used to the dark. It felt as though he was sitting on some sort of plant.

"It's okay!" He called up to the light the size of a postage stamp, which was the open trapdoor. "It's a soft landing, you can jump!"

Su and Susan followed right away. He landed, sprawled next to Harry.

"What is this stuff?" Susan wondered as she rubbed what she'd landed on.

"Dunno, some sort of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, Hermione!" Harry called.

The distant 'music' stopped. There was a loud bark from the dog, but Hermione had already jumped. She landed behind Harry.

"We must be miles under the school." She said with wonder. Harry could feel her bushy hair hitting him, leading him to believe she was looking around, trying to find any hint of light.

"Lucky this plant thing's here, really." Susan admitted.

"_Lucky!_" Hermione shrieked. "Look at you three!"

She leapt up and struggled toward a damp wall. She had to struggle because the moment she had landed, the plant had started to twist snakelike tendrils around her ankles. As for Harry and the others, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing.

Hermione had managed to free herself before the plant got a firm grip on her. Now she watched in horror as her three friends fought to pull the plant off them, but the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound around them.

"Stop moving!" Susan ordered them. "It's Devil's Snare!"

"That's a start, anyone remember how to get rid of it?" Harry asked.

"…We need light, or fire, but the 'Snare grabbed my wand when I hopped off of it!" Hermione panicked after a rapid and unsuccessful search for her wand.

"Su, Susan, can either of you get to your wand?" Harry asked the other two girls as the vines crept up his chest. He felt mildly uncomfortable as one of the smaller vines slipped underneath his shirt.

Susan was about to reply in the negative, but the quiet but firm voice of the 'Claw among them beat her to it. "Yes… close your eyes!" She barked as she raised her wand. The rest of the group quickly complied, trusting her to know what to do. They were glad they did when a ball of light as bright as a miniature sun formed at the tip of her wand. The Devil's snare actually screeched as its thinner vines were flash fried from the intensity of the light.

Once the plant was free and they couldn't see a silhouette of the world through their own eyelids Harry walked over and patted Su on the back. "Good job Su, that was some quick thinking." He shifted as Aneira on his shoulder meowed in agreement.

"I think I just got a tan." Susan quipped as they all moved forward on mutual consent; speed was the key.

"Well at least we weren't turned into atomic shadows." Hermione tried to up the mood with a joke, only to get confused looks from the two magical raised girls and a snort from Harry. "Atomic shadows are created after using a Muggle explosive called an atomic bomb. After the explosion people's outlines are imprinted into walls they were standing near."

Unsurprisingly, this only increased the nervousness the girls were feeling, though it did distract them from the nervousness they were feeling before about getting passed the obstacles.

"Looks like there's only one way." Harry said, pointing down a stone passageway which, just as he'd said, was the only way forward.

All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downward, and Harry was reminded of Gringotts. With an unpleasant cold knot forming in his chest, he remembered the dragons rumoured to be guarding vaults in Gringotts. If they met a dragon, a fully-grown dragon… he shuddered at the thought.

"Can you hear something?" Susan whispered.

"Wings." Su answered.

Harry nodded, "Yeah, sounds like lots of them too. Not much further, there's light up ahead."

They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door.

"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" Hermione wondered.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they did." Harry admitted. "They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once… well, there's no other choice… I'll run."

He took a deep breath, covered his face with his arms, and sprinted across the room. He expected to feel sharp beaks and claws tearing at him any second, but nothing happened. He reached the door untouched. He pulled the handle, but it was locked.

The other three followed him. They tugged and heaved at the door, but it wouldn't budge, not even when Hermione tried her _Alohomora Charm_. Harry was getting more suspicious, why wasn't this kind of magic on the first door? Something wasn't right about all this. Harry wasn't sure what yet, but he was certain this wasn't right.

"These birds… they can't be here just for decoration." Hermione said.

They watched the birds soaring overhead, glittering-wait, glittering?

"They're not birds!" Harry said suddenly as he took a closer look at the so called birds. "They're keys! Winged keys; look carefully. So that must mean…" He looked around the chamber while the other three squinted up at the flock of keys. "Aha!" He cheered as he saw a half-dozen broomsticks lined up against the wall. "We've got to catch the key to the door!"

"But there are hundreds of them!"

"Big, old-fashioned, silver; like the handle." Su supplied, tapping her nail against the tarnished metal she was talking about to make a pinging sound.

Harry got a good look at the lock before seizing a broomstick and kicking off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys. Harry grabbed and snatched, but the bewitched keys darted and dived so quickly it was almost impossible to catch one. It didn't help the key's behind him were attacking him.

However, he had a knack for spotting things other people didn't. After a minute's weaving about through the whirl of rainbow feathers, he noticed a large silver key that had a bent wing, as if it had already been caught and used a few times already.

It was a few more minutes before he was able to catch it. Acting fast he snapped the wings off the key and flew down, throwing the key to Hermione, who ran to open the door. As Hermione was opening the door, Harry was flying about to keep the keys at bay. As soon as Hermione opened the door, he flew down and through the doorway. The second he was through the three girls slammed the door behind him.

The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. But as they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight.

They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. The four first years were unnerved to find that the white pieces had no faces, just blank slates.

"Now what do we do?" Hermione whispered.

"I_…_ guess we have to play our way across?" Susan guessed.

Su was the next to voice her thoughts, "Risky. Requires skills we do not have."

"Yeah, like hell." Harry said darkly, none of them were good at this game, and he suspected that it would be like the real Wizarding Chess where the figures would attack each other, and if they had to play the pieces… _'Not happening.' _Harry thought, before an evil smile crossed his face. Not only would the chess pieces attack them, it would take time. Time they didn't have a lot of. He decided to do what his cousin would do when faced with anything that made him feel inferior; break it.

Before he could do anything, Hermione asked as she saw the smile, "What are you planning Harry?"

"Going to go through this the easy way." Harry said with a smirk, and before the girls could say anything, he weaved his wand, _**"Reducto!"**_

A chess piece exploded to dust, and for the next ten minutes or so, chess pieces were exploding and Harry was smiling as he did so. By the end of it, Harry was outright grinning in the middle of a pile of rubble, _'I've got to thank Cedric for teaching me this spell.'_

The girls looked at him strangely, "What?" He asked innocently, "Destroying them was a lot easier than wasting time playing through the game, if we did it might have taken hours to play. Anyway, we're on a schedule." Then, as he started to walk away, he threw over his shoulder, "Besides, what eleven-year-old boy doesn't like breaking things when they can get away with it?"

While Susan and Hermione were speechless, Su breezed past them and joined Harry as he ventured across the room and to the next door. "Looked fun." She admitted, a small smile on her face that could even be dubbed mischievous.

As they entered the next they were shocked to see a troll, who attacked them as soon as they entered the room. They were able to dodge the attack. The troll was at least a metre taller than the one that Harry faced on Halloween, and looked a lot meaner. It was this point that Aneira transformed into her tiger form and stood next to her Master, waiting to attack.

The troll charged towards Su, who used some form of repulsion spell to knock the beast away from her. Whatever the spell, it made it angry and went after Hermione, the person closest to it, in it's anger. Hermione froze in fear at the sight of another fully grown Mountain Troll threatening her - it reminded her of what nearly happened on Halloween. Because of this, Harry was forced to throw a few fireballs at the troll to distract it as he shoved Hermione out of the way.

However, this made the troll angrier and it start to swing it club about in anger, and Harry got hit because of it. Before the Troll could do anything more, he was systematically turned to a frozen troll-sicle, thanks to Aneira, for a few seconds before then being turned to bloody frozen chunks learning a valuable lesson in exactly why you shouldn't attack the friends of a girl who'd been trained as a warrior all her life as Su demonstrated her skills in Battle Magic. After Su's impressive display was done Susan showed her budding talent in the art of healing and was able to heal Harry's wounds. Luckily, his injuries were minor, as broken bones and internal bleeding was out of her range of expertise.

"Thanks Susan. Hermione, are you okay?" Harry asked, concerned for the bushy haired girl. Susan understood the rushed words of thanks, and was equally worried for Hermione; knowing the full story of what happened on Halloween, or at least the 'public' version of it.

Hermione was shaken, but she was rapidly recovering from her freeze-up. "I'm fine." She said firmly after a few deep breathes. "Let's continue on."

Harry nodded, giving her hand ones last squeeze before walking over towards Su, his face brightening into an amazed look. "Su that was awesome! I had no idea you could cast spells like that." He praised, offering her a hand up.

The panting girl looked away, blushing lightly, not even slightly used to being able to show off her skills for her friends, or even anybody that wasn't family, but took his hand regardless.

Once everyone had regained their bearings and breath, the four continued on to the next room. They hardly dared to look at what came next after entering the next doorway, but there was nothing to be alarmed over; just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing in a line.

"Snape's?" Harry asked, getting thoughtful looks before nods from the girls. "So what did the greasy bat set up for his protection for the Stone?"

They stepped over the threshold, and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onward. They were trapped.

"Look!" Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. Harry and the other two girls looked over her shoulder to read it:

_Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,_

_Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,_

_One among us seven will let you move ahead,_

_Another will transport the drinker back instead,_

_Two among our number hold only nettle wine,_

_Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line._

_Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,_

_To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:_

_First, however slyly the poison tries to hide_

_You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;_

_Second, different are those who stand at either end,_

_But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;_

_Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,_

_Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;_

_Fourth, the second left and the second on the right_

_Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight._

Hermione let out a great sigh and Harry, amazed, saw that she was smiling.

"_Brilliant,_" Hermione said. "This isn't magic; it's _logic_, a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, sorry girls." She added to the others in the room, they nodded in understanding, "They'd be stuck in here forever."

"But we won't, will we?" Harry said confidently. "I for one don't want to be stuck here until Dumbledore or one of the other professors finds us."

"Of course not." Hermione agreed. "Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire, and one will get us back through the purple."

"But how do we know which to drink?" Susan asked.

Hermione smiled mischievously, "Oh I already figured it out. But before I say which, I would like you three to guess which one we should take."

Harry figured it out a few minutes after Hermione's challenge, and Su and Susan, surprisingly, considering their upbringing, got the answer right several minutes after Harry.

As Harry was examining the bottles more closely Susan had tried a Duplication Charm on the vials of potion, to see if she could make three extra potions so that each of them could go through the fire, since there was only enough for two people. However, she was only succeeded in making three extra glass vials, which were empty.

As the three of them were deciding who would go with Harry to get the Stone, Harry tested the fire to see if he could touch it and to his pleasant surprise, he found out that he could. He wasn't sure because the fire was obviously magical in nature, and thus likely different than normal fire in ways he couldn't explain yet. So as the three girls argued about who would get the correct potion and go with and who would stay behind, Harry slipped through the imposing black flames unharmed into the next room.

As Harry entered the next room, he found himself in a chamber. It was empty apart for a few torches that were a lit, a mirror that Harry recognized as the Mirror of Erised and no way out apart for the way he came in. Harry quickly realized that the mirror was some way part of finding the Stone, so he looked into the mirror. Hoping to find the Stone so that he could send it back to the Flamels.

When he looked in the mirror this time, he didn't see his family, all he saw was himself standing next to his twin, both of whom were standing in front of a burning building with charred corpses littered around. Harry wondered what was going on; how was this going to help find the Stone. That's when his reflection give him a smirk and a wink, before it dropped a red stone into his pocket, before Harry and Lucy within the mirror turned around to gaze at the building.

Harry was a little miffed at being ignored by his own reflection, but before he could think more about it, he felt something in his pocket that wasn't there before. Taking whatever it was out of his pocket, Harry found that it was the Philosophers Stone. Smirking to himself, he placed the Stone back into his pocket and left the chamber.

He was amused to find the three girls still arguing about who would get the correct potion and who would stay behind when he walked back through the firewall. At the same moment he walked through the fire the girls looked up and saw him coming back.

"What the hell!" Susan shouted as she rushed over to him, as he stepped through the flame wall.

Su, despite her normally shy nature, gasped as she saw him take his last step through the flames.

Harry chuckled as Susan patted his chest, as if patting out invisible little fires. He batted her hands away lightly with a chuckle, "Girls, I'm fine. I probably should have told you this sooner, but I'm able to manipulate fire. I haven't researched it, but I think I'm a Fire Elemental."

Both non-gryffindor girls glared at him in response, nonplussed.

"It never came up! Nobody in our study session has any inborn traits or skills, or at least none that they've talked about!" He explained himself, "And I've only met you guys and I wasn't sure if I could trust you with my secret. Are you going to tell me that you and others haven't got secrets that you haven't told us or things you don't want to talk about?" Harry asked as he gave, challenging them to say otherwise. As he know that all family's had their own secrets, or at least things that they didn't want others to know.

"…" Su's blank stare told Harry he was right, as did Susan's defeated sigh. "So if that was the case, why reveal it now?" asked Susan.

Harry looked a bit sheepish as he admitted, "I didn't mean to, I saw you three arguing, and since I thought it might take a while, I thought I'd see if I could touch magical fire without being harmed. Once I found out I could I figured it'd just be quicker to see what was ahead myself. If it was dangerous I could always yell for you girls to run away. It just happened that you looked up when I decided to come back…"

"…Stone?" Su asked after a moment of consideration.

"I've got it here." Harry answered as he pulled the Stone out of his pocket. "Now let's get out of here."

As he said that the three girls started to walk towards the table so they could drink the potion to leave the chamber but as they did, Harry asked with a smirk, "And where are you three going?"

"Getting out of here, like you said." Hermione answered uncertainly, unsure of why Harry was asking.

"I did say that, but I've got a faster way out of here." And a lot safer, but Harry wasn't going to say that. As he knew that as soon as they got back up top they would have to face Fluffy, something he didn't want to but knew he would have to if the girls didn't find out about his powers. But now…

"How?" Su asked.

"I can teleport. But only to places that I've seen in person or high quality pictures of, granted, but I could teleport us to the room you pulled me into easily enough." He explained.

"But Harry, there are wards around Hogwarts that-" Hermione began winding up for a lecture before Harry took her arm by suddenly and flamed out of the chamber and into the unused classroom that they were in earlier. "-stops all forms teleportation in and out of Hogwarts…" She finished lamely as she saw where she was. She was shocked to find that the two of them were in the classroom that they were in earlier, just like he'd said. "B-But how is this possible, the, the wards and… and…" She trailed off as she tried to deny what he'd done using logic, but found she couldn't.

He shrugged, "I have no idea, but I for one am happy the wards don't seem to affect my ability. Back in a sec_…_"

He flamed away, reappearing briefly with Susan before doing the same with Su. When he let go of Su's hand he stumbled back against the desk behind him breathing heavily, holding his head as it rolled to the side. "Are you okay?" Hermione asked, beating the other two to the punch because they were busy getting over their surprise at the successful teleportation.

"Fine_…_ fine. The magical drain skyrockets when I take other people though. Caught me off guard." Harry panted. Internally he was just happy it worked, as he'd never teleported another person before and wasn't sure if he could do it or not. He doubted anything bad would happen to the girls because of how the ability worked – his magic acting as a cocoon, the fire being what tore a hole for him to zip through to his destination – but he was still unsure if the spell would work, as opposed to fizzling out. "Now if you three don't mind, I would like to get something to eat and go to bed, teleporting three people without rest took a lot out me." Harry suggested. The girls nodded in understanding. Just because he could do the impossible and teleport inside Hogwarts didn't mean the Wards that normally prevented it didn't take their pound of flesh, so to speak, in retribution for being beaten. At least, that was their theory.

_**o0OoO0o**_

Half an hour later Harry's head finally hit the pillow and he was out like a light. He was glad his friends hadn't asked any more questions since he was too tired to answer them properly. He was glad he was even able to get to sleep with how active his thoughts were.

_Harry awoke to find himself in the park near Privet Drive. As he surveyed the area to see if anybody was nearby he was happily surprised to see his twin 'sister' standing near the slide. It was then that he realized he was dreaming, "Lucy, is that really you?" He asked in shock at seeing his first true friend; someone he thought he'd never see again._

"_Yes brother, it is me…" Lucy said with a warm smile._

"_Lucy!" Harry cried out happily, as he ran over to and hugged her. "Why did you leave me sis, I needed you."_

"_I know you did Harry, but at the same time you didn't." Lucy said, eagerly hugging him back. "I didn't _want_ to leave you, but I _**had**_ to."_

"_What are you talking about Lucy?" Harry asked in confusion._

_Lucy sighed, putting her head on his shoulder and staring off into the distance. "Harry, we both know I'm not real. Though there were some strange times where we could touch when we fought years ago, but I have a theory for that; your magic made me temporarily corporeal when we fought. It explains your exhausting after we were done." She finished her explanation, happy to feel him nodding, agreeing with her theory. "Anyway, back on topic, I know you want me to stay with you, but I can't… with me there you wouldn't have reached out and made friend; friends you needed. After all, when you have me, who needs anybody else." She pulled back and looked at him as she said the last line, smirking arrogantly._

_Harry chuckled at his sister's pompous act, but a frown overtook his face a second later. He was incredibly happy to have his sister with him again, "I want you to stay." He said stubbornly._

"_It wouldn't work, even if I did stay. Brother, it's not normal for someone to have an imaginary friend that's a complete separate entity. They'll probably call you schizophrenic, which you probably are, and I'll 'die' for real because of the potions they'll likely give you." Feeling him stiffen and his arms tighten around her she hugged him harder as well, assuring him she was there and wasn't going away just yet. "That doesn't mean I won't be here for you. If you need to talk about something you can't talk to your new friends about, if you're confused about something and you need guidance, if you need me in any way I can help you with, I'll be here. You just have to accept that you're not going to need me that often, and I may fade away further because I won't have a purpose."_

"_Never!" Harry exclaimed firmly. A feeling of red hot hatred suddenly formed, aimed at his friends; they were making his sister fade away again! Just as quickly as it appeared it disappeared. It was silly to blame them for something they had no control over. "I'll always need you." He finished in a whisper._

"_We'll see…" She said, finally disengaging from the hug and sitting down on the end of the slide. "For now let's talk about why I'm here now. You need my help in puzzling out your thoughts and feelings about tonight and how things didn't add up, as well as why the Stone was so poorly protected."_

"_You're right, it didn't make any sense and I could really use a sounding board." Harry said quickly, glad to move the topic away from such depressing matters._

_**o0OoO0o**_

It seemed to Harry that he and his sister talked for hours, but he wasn't sure how long they truly talked for. Lucy did agree with him that the situation was strange, that the Stone was so badly protected that four first years could get past the so called protections in less than an hour, with no serious injuries.

After some talking, they realized if four first years could get past the jokes referred to as defences, how easy would it be for someone older and more skilled to get past them? It was then that he realized that the Headmaster was up to something - or at least suspected him of being up to something - but he wasn't sure what or why. After a sad goodbye (for now, Harry insisted) Harry awoke.

When he brought this to his Study Group the part of the group who didn't know about the Stone were shocked to hear it was in the school and that four of them went after it. The entire group, aside from Su, Suasn and Hermione, were shocked at the ease of the obstacles, but Hermione was quick to the defence of her idols. It seemed like every time Harry suggested an idea she blew it off completely and insisted there must be some reason for their actions that they couldn't understand. "Harry, I know it's strange, but do you really think that the Headmaster is up to something? He may only brought the Stone here to-"

"Hermione!" Harry finally snapped. "You need to knock this off; just because somebody is in a position of authority doesn't make them infallible, or incapable of scheming. If Dumbledore had the students' bets interest in mind he wouldn't have brought the Stone to the school - where students could get hurt, or even killed - in the first place."

"I don't want to think so, but Harry's right." Angelina reluctantly admitted. She didn't like the thought of Albus Dumbledore being a scheming old man because of what it meant for the student body at large, but facts were facts. "The job of a Headmaster is to keep the school and its student's safe, bringing the Stone here is doing the exact opposite. He must be up to something; maybe he wants to lure someone to the school, or some other reason we don't know. Whatever the case, it doesn't mean good things for us." The others nodded in agreement and Hermione sighed as she accepted their point. Her faith wasn't broken, but it was shaken for the first time and Harry admitted to himself he couldn't fix her dependence in one swoop.

"We'll keep an eye on him. If he's really up to something it'll probably fall apart since we've stolen the end game piece before the trap can be sprung." Harry suggested. "He also might try something else; something that would be the school in danger again. From now on we'll be ready."

"We agree…" Fred started their usual routine this time.

"…We should keep an eye out." George continued.

"We don't want anything to happen." Both boys finished with conviction.

"By the way, what happened to the Stone?" George wondered curiously.

"I sent it back to the Flamels during lunch with Hedwig." Harry answered.

"Is that what that was? I thought I saw you give Hedwig something but I couldn't tell if it wasn't just more bacon." Hermione spoke up.

Harry shrugged, "The staff table seems to enjoy watching me like a hawk for various reasons, so I had to be discreet. I wrapped the Stone in a note I wrote and had her hold it in between helpings of bacon."

"Do you think that Hedwig'll be able to find the Flamels?" Susan asked.

"I have full confidence that Hedwig will be able to find them," Harry said confidently, then casting the time spell, he said, "Anyway, I'm off to get something to eat, after using so much power last night, I'm still hungry and tired. So I'll see you lot later." Before the others could ask what he was talking about, he left to get something to eat before turning in early… leaving Su, Susan and Hermione to explain what he meant. It was no surprise that the others were shocked to learn that Harry had fire elemental powers.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_7th March 1992:_

It'd been over a month since Harry sent the Stone off to the Flamels and things had settled down and become… well, pretty boring really. It became like a normal school experience should be, granted it was normal for a _magical_ school, but still, Harry found, to his surprise, he wanted something interesting to happen. The only event of note that happened was the group deciding they needed a leader, someone to be in charge so chaos didn't happen. The group at large nominated Harry, to his shock. He tried to say that Cedric, Angelina or Alicia should be a better leader because they were older and more experienced than him, but was rebuffed.

While the three agreed that they might know more than him at the moment, they also said that he and Hermione were rapidly approaching the point where they were intellectual equals, making his argument moot. After a long talk Harry was persuaded into becoming the leader of the group.

Harry shared with the other about some of his 'secret' abilities. It was no surprise that they were shocked about this; there hadn't been a recorded elemental in decades. It was Cedric that gave him the nickname Vulcan. Cedric was someone who liked to read about the mythical gods and beings, seeing that many them had connections to the Wizarding Worlds like Werewolves, Mummies and many other things. In fact Vulcan was one of the so called Roman Gods, he was meant to be the Roman God of beneficial and hindering fire, including the fire of volcanoes. He was in fact a powerful Fire Elementalist by the name of Vulcan Drusus. Seeing that Harry was also a Fire Elemental and a powerful one at that, Cedric thought it fitting that he should be nicknamed Vulcan.

The twins had fun when they learned this; whenever it was just their group around they started calling him 'Master Vulcan, God of Fire' and when one of the girls was within arm's reach they would grab them and they would chant, "Oh Might God of Fire, we offer you this maiden in offering of your greatness." And they push the girl onto him. Harry was embarrassed by the whole thing, but was happy the twins joke made his friends laugh. He found the physical abuse the chosen girl would visit on the twins after they managed to get out of his lap even more amusing.

The short bit of normalcy stopped for a while on the 7th of March when the group was having breakfast when post came. Apart from the normal mail owls the Great Hall was shocked to see a vulture of all things fly in and land in front of Harry, a small package on his leg. While Harry was blinking stupidly at the bird, the carrion's beady eyes were locked onto Errol, the Weasley's elderly own who'd delivered a letter to Percy with eyes that just seemed to say, "Tonight. _You_." followed by licking its lips in hunger, which made the poor old owl shuffle around, trying to avoid its gaze.

Harry eventually took the package and opened it, his eyes widening further when a blood red stone the size of a gold ball landed in his hand.

Hermione goggled at it, taking her eyes off the bird that was still leering at a very nervous Errol, looking as if death was staring at it. "I-is that the Ph-Philosopher's Stone?" She asked incredulously, never expecting to see the thing again.

Harry, just as caught off guard as her replied, "I don't know." He decided to read the note, hoping for an answer, and did so in a voice loud enough for Hermione to hear. This, consequently, let the entire silent Hall hear, since his voice was the only sound being made.

_Dear Mr. Potter, _

_I thank you for returning my Stone to us, but to be honest with you I was shocked that I would ever see it again. You see, my wife, Perenelle and I, have after a long talk and have decided that after living for over six hundred years we've seen and done so much that it was time for us to leave this world, or as I say, move on to the next Great Adventure. However, we couldn't bear destroying our precious Stone ourselves, and would keep using it if we still had it, even if we didn't desire to do so. So we sent the Stone to Albus, asking him to destroy it for us. However, we never thought that he would use it as bait and endanger students of the school, so I would like to thank you for removing the Stone from Hogwarts._

_So as thanks, we've altered our Will to add you four for doing so:_

_To Hermione Granger: We've done a bit of research about you, and we found you're an excellent student and known bibliophile. Taking this into account, we've gifted you a good portion of the Flamel Library, on the condition that you share the books with your friends._

_To Su Li: We've met your family in the past and worked with them on several occasions; we even discovered they were one of our descendants! So we're more than happy to gift you with our books on Battle Magic. To help you to further your studies, we've hired you a teacher to help you this summer._

_To Susan Bones: We know of your family, and our two families were once allies. But over time things happened and we lost track of your family. We know that your family has lost many of its Heirlooms, but over the centuries we've been able to track them down. We always meant to give them back, but we always got a lead on a new one and said to ourselves that we would wait until we'd acquired that item before gifting them back._

_The above items are in a vault in your names in Gringotts, the keys are in this package…_

_Lastly, to Harry Potter: We are very grateful for what you have done, and so we leave our Philosopher's Stone to you. We were unsure what to do with the Stone, but Perenelle is a bit of a Seer, not a skilled one, but she still as a bit of the skill and she saw that you would need all the help that you can get against the threats that you'll face in your life._

_Signing off for the last time,_

_Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel._

As Harry finished the letter, he, the girls named in the will, their group and the people who heard the letter (that being effectively everyone) were in shock. No one knew about the Philosopher's Stone being at Hogwarts, and now it was here in front of Harry Potter. This just made him even more famous for now being in possession of the legendary Stone. But the older students were shocked that the ancient couple would give a priceless magical item to an eleven year old. So it was no surprise that this became the new hot topic and whispers begun to spread around the Hall. Within minutes, the news of what the vulture brought was known by everyone.

At the Staff Table Dumbledore sent Harry suspicious looks when he saw the Stone, so did the other Professors who knew it was at Hogwarts. The Stone should be safely hidden and protected on the third floor corridor, so they had to wonder how Harry was able to get it. Whilst the Professors were thinking about it Dumbledore was worried as many of his plans were ruined now. He was using the Stone to lure Professor Quirrell into getting the Stone, as he knew that Quirrell was possessed by Tom Riddle, now known as Voldemort. He wanted them to face Harry down in the Mirror Chamber, as he wanted to see how well Harry would do facing the tasks he had the other Professors set up and to let Harry that Tom was still alive in such a way that would also centre Voldemort's attention back on Harry. However, if what he was hearing was true, he'd already failed. The Flames left it to him in their Will and legally, he couldn't take it from Harry.

It was the final crush in a long line of flaming wrecks that were once his schemes, really. Harry hasn't been following his plans for a while; he wasn't friends with Ronald Weasley, he was making friends with other houses - something he didn't want to happen because he wanted Harry to rely on Ronald for all his information about the Magical World, which would all be filtered through from Dumbledore himself of course. So many schemes not going according to plan, all because Potter had to become friends with that that Granger girl. If she wasn't around Harry would no doubt have never started digging himself out of the nasty hole Dumbledore wanted him in, endlessly reaching out for aid, but only getting Dumbledore's useless but seemingly helpful assistance.

As for Quirrell himself, he was staring at the Boy-Who-Lived in shock. He'd been planning to get the Stone for his Master and the only problem he'd had was getting past the damn three head dog of Hagrid's. That was the only thing getting in his way. The plan was to get him drunk and give him a dragon's egg in exchange for information on the Cerberus. It looked like his luck was picking up though; somehow Potter now had the Stone and all he had to do was to take it off him. His thoughts mirrored the being on the back of his head, confirmed when a voice the rest of the Staff Table head hissed, _"Get the SSStone!"_

Before any of the Hogwarts Staff could react, Quirrell scrambled over the table, pulling his wand as he did so. The students only turned to look at the previously meek man when he screamed without his customary stammer, "That Stone rightfully belongs to my Master, Potter! Hand it over!" and launched a Slicing Charm that cut a jagged line where Harry's hands were. Luckily, the last Potter, as well and Hermione and the twins who were in range of the curse, pulled their hands back before the curse hit, leaving their plates to get carved in half by the spell.

As the other professors were still in shock, Quirrell conjured up a burst of Dark Fire around the Head Table so they couldn't interfere. Once he did this, he looked at Potter as the other students that weren't a part of Harry's group made sure the other got out safely. "Give me the Stone so I can give it to the Dark Lord, if you do, I'll let you live for now." Quirrell offered.

"How rude," Harry said as if nothing happened as he seat back down to eat his breakfast, "We were having breakfast, talking and receiving our mail, and you had to attack us. Didn't your mother teach you any manners when you were little?"

As he said this, the professors, his friends and the students who hadn't yet left, looked at Harry as he gone mad; he was acting so calm and controlled. It seemed as if he didn't have any worries at all, like someone trying to kill him was an everyday sort of thing. In a way it was for Harry, Vernon's abuse was occasionally lethal and Harry only avoided this grim death at the hands of his uncle through practiced means until Vernon's slow brain would realize that he couldn't explain away his nephew's death like he could all his injuries.

Another thing, Harry never did like Quirrell, there was something off about the man as if he was hiding something. Harry might not be sure what it was, but he knew that something was off. For someone who was meant to be their defence professor he was jumpy and weary of things, constantly fearing something was going to jump out of the shadows. Harry knew that someone meant to help them fight the _Dark Arts_ shouldn't be acting like this and if he was, it was some kind of act to lower people's guard around him. This was something Harry wouldn't allow himself to do, and now he was grateful that he didn't. He was calm for a very simple reason; if he allowed his fear to take over he would make mistakes, mistakes that would get people hurt, more importantly get himself hurt or killed - so he would remain calm.

Either way, Quirrell was angry at how Potter talked to him and how he was acting. In retaliation he sent another Slicing Charm at Potter. The man faltered when Potter avoided the curse with a casual lean.

"Is that the best that you can do Quirrell? The standards around here for Professors are terrible." Harry mocked.

"You think you're so smart and cocky, defying the Dark Lord! Let me show you what happens to people who get in his way!" Quirrell snarled in rage as he cast another Slicing Charm followed by a Bone Splintering Hex.

However, none of the spells hit Harry as he magically lifted the plates near him that took the spell and turning them into dust. The Weasley Twins reacted first, chaining together their massive arsenal of pranking spells. Su followed a split second later, her spells were unknown to everyone but possibly the trapped Staff, but the damage done to the castle when Quirrell dodged them was startling. Susan was casting Shield Charms to protect the students from stray spells, whilst Hermione was throwing Tripping Jinxes at the rogue professor whenever she could. Harry was helping by throwing his own fire spells, using his wand, and taunting the older man. Quirrell proved to be surprisingly powerful, and was barely taking any damage despite the assault from so many sides.

What they didn't know was that Quirrell had feasted on even more Forcibly Taken unicorn blood the previous evening and as boosted by the effects.

Suddenly Harry saw the tell-tale green pinpricks of light at the end of Quirrell's wand and saw he was glaring right at Hermione. Before he knew what he was doing, or thought what to do, his feet moved with a burst of speed he sprinted towards the craze man faster than he'd ever moved in his life.

Quirrell glared at the Blood Traitors and at the little Mudblood Bitch who dared to get in his way to get the Stone for his Master. They were good, but this had to end now, and he would do so by killing the Mudblood Bitch. Gathering his magic and the hate needed he cried out the name of his spell, "Avada Ked-ugh!" Only to be interrupted by Potter as the boy slammed into him; sending him to the floor. He briefly looked up, only to see Potter's fist screaming towards his face.

As Harry's fist hit Quirrell's face the Boy-Who-Lived was shocked to see Quirrell's face blistered when he pulled his fist back. While he was looking at this Quirrell raised his wand, the tip glowing a sickly green again. Reacting quickly Harry pinned his arm down and grasped his neck. Harry ignored the sharp tingling feeling in both of his hands. Within seconds, Quirrel was burned alive, leaving nothing but ash behind, which revealed a Dark Wraith that rose out of the ash like some kind of twisted phoenix before fleeing Hogwarts.

As the wraith fled, the Dark Flames began to disappear, allowing the Professors free. At the same time, Harry's friends rushed over to see if he was okay. "Harry, Harry, are you alright?" Asked a concerned Hermione as she looked him over. He was panting heavily, and his hands both looked a little raw, but he didn't appear to be injured.

"I'm… alright." Harry answered slowly, feeling a bit weak.

"What was the hell was that thing that came out of Quirrell?" Cedric wondered as he stared at the wall it had fled through.

"I have no idea," Harry replied honestly.

"That was the wraith of Lord Voldemort." they heard from behind them, all but Harry, Hermione and Su flinched at the name, as they turned round they saw Dumbledore behind them, "It seems that the late Professor Quirrell was possessed by Voldemort."

"So that was Voldemort… interesting." Harry muttered to himself before speaking up, "So what happened to him? Why did he become ash when I touched him?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "I would prefer if we talked about this in my office. The fewer people that know about this ability's specifics the better. If you want to tell your friends about this later, although I prefer you didn't, you can do so later."

Harry would have preferred to have his hands looked at first, but the old fool could possibly give him information on an invaluable weapon against the man who was probably going to be dead set on killing him. "Alright, lead the way." He accepted the offer before they were off, Dumbledore leading Harry to his office.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_20th of June 1992:_

Once they were both seated Dumbledore explained that the reason Quirrell turned to ash when Harry touched him was because his mother's sacrifice. When Harry give him a strange look, Dumbledore explained that because of Harry's mother's love when she died, because of Quirrell's unique situation of being possessed he, as a proxy of Voldemort, could not stand Harry's touch. Harry didn't believe a word of it, because he found it laughably implausible that his mother was the only mother to love her son enough to sacrifice themselves for their children - he suspect that thousands died protecting, or even directly shielding, their children only to have their lives snuffed out by Voldemort or his men anyway.

Then Dumbledore tried to get the Philosopher's Stone from Harry, telling Harry that it would be safer with him then it was with Harry. He had a valid point, Harry would be made a target by those desiring to possess the Stone once word got out that he had it. That valid point fell flat when Harry flat out told him no; that the Stone was safer with him if four first years could get the Stone from Dumbledore already. Dumbledore was flustered, and insisted he be given the Stone, this time on grounds that Harry wasn't ready for such a large responsibility so suddenly, but Harry wished the Headmaster a good day and left the office in response. He left a dumbfounded Headmaster and several dozen snickering portraits behind him.

The rest of the year went back to normal; that is to say, Harry was bored out of his skull. He noticed that Hermione's attitude had changed, becoming more clingy towards him. Harry could only guess it was because he'd saved her three times now; twice from mountain trolls and again against Quirrellmort - the nickname the braver fraction of the student body had given him - and was determined to pay him back somehow.

But by the end of the school year she eventually eased up. Harry had reminded her that he was staying with her family, thanking her again for the opportunity, and it seemed to click that she was already helping him a large deal. She still stuck close to him, but she wasn't constantly trying to help him with things. Harry could live with that. She did make it known that she was planning on helping him work out some sort of plan so he would never have to go back to his relatives. She had already planned on helping him find a place to either rent or set up a plan to have him stay with their friends, moving from house to house on a weekly schedule or something of the like, but after he saved her she wanted to hopefully give him a family experience by going on vacation with them; to show him how a real family acted so he would accept what the Dursleys did was wrong.

"Harry, Harry wake up, the trolley lady is here." Hermione's voice called out to Harry.

As Harry slowly woke up and rubbed his eyes he yawned before he ordered what he wanted, "Thanks Hermione." He thanked her, and then the trolley lady as he grabbed his purchases and sat back down.

"So what have you lot planned for the summer?" Harry asked his friends, as he began to eat and drink his purchases.

That's how they spent their remaining hours on the train; talking about their holiday plans. Susan was going to spend some time with her aunt before going to Hannah's where they would go to Greece for a few weeks before returning to get their school things. Su was going to China to learn more Battle Magic with her family and her new tutor before returning to get her school items. The Vixens were going to spend time at each other homes, no real plans aside from hanging out with each other until they needed to go back-to-school shopping. The Weasley Twins were staying home to work on their pranks and maybe see their friends. Harry answered that he really didn't have any solid plans, since he was going to be spending his summer with the Grangers. His plans were whatever theirs were. They all agreed to keep in contact over the summer, and if possible, meet up.

Now before they knew it, they had arrived at King Cross.

Once they arrived at the station the Twins bid them goodbye before looking for their friend Lee. Susan, Hannah, Su, and Alicia were Flooing home right away, so they gave their goodbyes right there in the compartment, giving hugs and well wishes before they grabbed their trunks and left. While they were packing Cedric popped in to grab his trunk and give his own goodbyes, thankful he was able to catch the group before they all left.

Only Harry, Hermione, Angelina and Katie were left to make their way through the portal to King Cross. Angelina and Katie decided to part ways in a very memorable way as they both hugged Harry, kissing his cheeks at the say time before skipping away through the portal, leaving a blushing Harry. Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled at her flustered friend but couldn't fight the smile at seeing him act so normal. With only Harry and Hermione left, Hermione asked, "Are you ready to meet my parents Harry?"

"Yeah." Harry said slowly with a smile. "I hope they'll like me."

"I'm sure they will." Hermione assured him. "Come on, they're probably already here."

And with that the two of them went through the portal.

_**TO BE CONTINUED!**_

_**Authors Note:**_ Here's the next chapter of Vulcan, I thank you for reading and I hope that you keep on reading and enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing this. Please let me know what you think of the story, as I would like to know what you think of it…


	5. Chapter 5 - Summer Part 1!

'_Thoughts'_

_**Chapter 5…**_

_20th of June 1992:_

As Hermione and Harry walked through the portal they came face to face, or rather, shoulder to shoulder, with the normal Saturday afternoon rush. It took a few minutes before Hermione found her parents and pointed them out to Harry. Hermione's father was tall muscular man with short brown hair with a bit of grey in it, his blue eyes scanning the crowd for his daughter and their summer guest. He looked to be in his mid-thirty's. Hermione's mother was… well to put simply an older sexy version of Hermione. It seemed where Harry was supposedly a clone of his father, Hermione was the same with her mother. If Harry didn't know any better, he'd say the woman was in her early twenties.

As Hermione lead Harry to her parents, she called out, "Mum, Dad, over here!"

As the Granger's walked over to Hermione and Harry, Hermione's father said, "Hi sweetie, how are you."

"I'm fine Dad." Hermione said with a smile before she introduce them to Harry, "Mum, Dad, this is Harry, Harry this is my parent's Daniel and Emmaline Granger."

"Nice to meet you Harry." Emmaline said with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you too Mrs. Granger," Harry said with a smile. "I can see Hermione take after you, gorgeous."

Both the female Granger's blushed at this, with Hermione saying embarrassment, "Harry!"

"What, it's true." Harry waved his hands in front of him to ward off her swats with a grin.

"You're handsome yourself young man." Emmaline complimented. Harry could have easily been mistaken, due to his inexperience, but there seemed to be more than just playful teasing in her tone. He decided he would put that info away to use later on if his hunch was correct.

"Thank you Mrs. Granger, but it's thanks to Hermione that I look like this now." He evaded humbly, causing Hermione to blush even more as her parents attention was focused on her. "If it wasn't for her I'd still look like a skinny runt. You already know the reason why." Harry surmised.

Emmaline and Daniel both nodded, accepting him not wanting to talk about it further easily. "Oh, and please call me Emma, Mrs. Granger makes me feel old." Emma said with a smile.

"Well, I wouldn't want to do that, you look anything but old," Harry returned charmingly. "You could easily pass for Hermione's older sister."

"Why you." Emma blushed.

"I hope you're not trying to hit on my wife young man." Daniel interjected with an amused smile. The elder Granger was surprised at the boy's behaviour, from what he'd gathered and been told about his childhood Harry shouldn't exactly be a social butterfly. Then again, Dan admitted to himself, he'd spent 10 months at a boarding school interacting with nothing but children his own age, and Hermione _had_ told her first friend was making progress in his social skills, he just hadn't expected him to be this outgoing.

"Oh no sir, I'm only telling the truth." Harry answered, bringing the man out of his thoughts. "You're a lucky man to have two gorgeous women in your life Mr. Granger."

Daniel laughed happily; the lad was making quite the first impression. His comments could have been mistaken as ass-kissing, but he sounded genuine about his compliments. "Please call me Daniel, or Dan, I would prefer the latter because I'm more comfortable with it but it's your choice. I spent enough time around my father when he worked that I keep thinking people mean him." He admitted with a smile, turning his gaze towards his wife and daughter his expression turned proud. "And yes I'm a very lucky man. Anyway, no use standing around here, let's get your things into the car and we can head off."

Not soon after Harry helped Dan to get the trunks into their black Range Rover CSK and took off, leaving the crowded station behind them.

_**o0OoO0o**_

On the way to the Granger's home, Hermione asked, "Mum, where's Mel? I thought she'd come with to pick me up as well."

"Mel?" Harry asked, wondering who or what owned the designation.

Hermione's parents give her a look, and Hermione blushed as she said, "Melody, or Mel for short, is my sister."

"…You have a sister?" Harry asked with a surprised blink, completely shocked. She'd never mentioned anybody but her parents.

"It never came up," Hermione blushed at this, "We talked, but we never did talk about my family."

It was true, although they talked a bit, Harry realized that they never really talked about their families, him because he didn't want to remember his time with the Durselys and her because… well he guessed she was right; he'd never asked. In truth not many people talked about their family at Hogwarts, Harry admitted. He could only guess it was to keep homesickness at bay. "So what's your sister like?" Harry asked his friend.

"I've been told she's very smart, but she lacks the drive I do so she can become very unsure about things." Hermione explained, trying to remain unbiased. "She's also shy around new people, that much I can tell you first hand. Expect to be avoided until she grows used to you being around and warm up to you. So where is she Mum?"

"She decided to stay behind with her friends, she wasn't up to the trip. So how was your time at Hogwarts you two?" She inquired with interest.

For the remainder of the trip the four of them talked about the past year at Hogwarts. Harry didn't know Hermione was going to censor the events of the year, not understanding the danger of telling parents their daughter had her life in mortal danger, but did know enough to at least mollify them when he explained that the Magical World, while wondrous, was also dangerous. The Troll sneaking in was a rare event, like a dog wandering into an elementary school. To stress the importance of not yanking her from the magical world completely he explained that without the proper training, Hermione's magic could be a danger to both to herself and everyone around her. The Elder Grangers weren't happy, but they could accept that logic, helped by Harry's promise to keep Hermione safe. Any other 11 year old promising this would have been written off, but there was a feeling around Harry, like an unseen aura of power and security. Hermione just barely resisted the urge to sigh with relief when her parents dropped the idea of pulling her from school and settled for a strongly worded letter to their Head of House about their lax security measures.

_**o0OoO0o**_

It was about two hours later when they got to a town called Winchester. They pulled into the driveway of a big garden and the large, two story white house it was attached to. The garden had beautiful flowers, bushes and trees. Harry stepped out of the car, same as Emma and Hermione, but Dan stayed inside the car. "I'm going to get Melody, see you soon." He announced with a blown kiss to his wife.

As the car pulled away and drove off Harry looked around and said, "These are really well cared for." He said with experience as he examined the flowers.

"Thank you Harry, It's a hobby of mine I started to pass the time but grew to love." Emma said with a proud smile, "Now let's go in and I'll do dinner and Hermione can show you around the house."

They did just that, Emma heading for the kitchen while Hermione gave him the tour. The first floor had a living room, study with a small library, Dining Room, kitchen and a Small Bathroom with a loo and a sink and a Games Room with a pool and foosball table. On the second floor they had five Bedrooms and a Bathroom; this one larger and sporting a bathtub. The Master Bedroom had its own bathroom, but that was the Elder Granger's Bathroom - Parent Privileges, Hermione had quoted - so Harry put it out of his mind.

Once Harry had a good idea of where everything was they went back to the living room, where Emma was watching TV. "You have a wonderful home Emma." He complimented.

"Thanks Harry," Emma returned. "Did Hermione show you what room was going to be yours?"

"No." He answered. His attention had more been on the games room and the study.

"Sorry Mum, I forgot to." Hermione said sheepishly.

"Well you can have one of the bedrooms on either side of the bathroom, they're guest rooms." Emma explained.

"Thank you Emma." Harry said gratefully. It was quickly turning into the best summer ever, and it hadn't even started proper. "Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked, feeling like he should be doing something in return.

Emma waved him off though. "No Harry, you're the guest and so you should relax." Next to him Hermione voiced her agreement. "Why don't you watch some TV. Hermione can you help me set the table while I finish up?"

With that Harry began to watch the TV, squirming in place as he sat gingerly on an unfamiliar couch, some irrational part of him worried he was going to break it somehow and get kicked out. He was hoping that feeling would fade.

Before he had a chance to dwell on it further though the front door opened and Dan's voice called, "We're home!" followed by the shuffle of shoes being taken off. Harry first look at Melody was her fond smile as she finished telling her Dad what she'd been up to with her friends. She had shoulder length, wavy sandy blond hair and muddy blue eyes set in a slightly more gentle version of Hermione's face.

She froze as she saw him, so Harry took the initiative, giving her a wave as he introduced himself. "Err, hey, I'm Harry Potter; one of Hermione's friends from Hogwarts." He said slowly, it felt completely foreign to the concept of introducing himself to his friend's siblings.

Just like Hermione said Melody seemed to look unsure of herself before she responded with a quiet, "Hello." before she made her towards the stairs, her gait slightly hurried.

Dan chuckled at Harry's curious expression. "Don't worry, she'll get used to you quick. Just give her some time and she'll be like a whole new person."

Just as he said that Hermione came in and saw her father, "Hi Dad, Mum thought she heard you and wanted to let you know she wanted you in the kitchen." Dan thanked his older daughter and left, leaving Hermione to tell Harry, "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, Mum wanted me to tell you so you'd have time to wash up."

Harry nodded and went to the downstairs bathroom to wash up.

_**o0OoO0o**_

During dinner Emma looked up from her food and asked, "Harry, has Hermione told you what we have planned for the summer?"

Hermione blushed, and Emma quickly deduced she already knew what Harry was going to say. "Last I heard the trip to France was planned, but I never asked further for details, since I was happy that I was going somewhere in the first place." Harry answered honestly, not sure why Hermione and now Mel were blushing, or why Den was chuckling at his girls.

"You see the reason that Hermione didn't tell you and the reason she and Mel are blushing is because it's a bit embarrassing for them. You see, one of the locations we'll be visiting is a nudist beach, although clothing is optional." Emma revealed with a grin. Both Emma and Dan chuckled as they watched Harry slowly work that out, before his facial colour matched their daughters'.

"O-oh. Yeah, that would certainly do it." Harry rambled, not sure how to take this development.

"Yes, it's something of a tradition for our family, a time to let our hair down you could say." Emma explained to an embarrassed Harry. "It started with me and Dan's parents, they were both nudists, believe it or not. Dan and I both went to the same beach and happened to meet and fall in love. Dan and I aren't nudists like our parents, but we do go to that beach every year; both for ourselves and so our daughters can experience what we did and hopefully find love like we did."

Harry was conflicted about the whole situation. On one hand, the idea was completely foreign, something he'd barely even heard about, much less even considered he was going to experience. On the other hand, he wasn't a half starved shrimp anymore, he had a body to be proud of now and he' be lying if he wasn't still riding on the confidence high of filling out so much over the year. It seemed like every morning he woke up to a slightly taller body, or more defined muscles. For a boy that had been short and frail for as long as he could remember it was exhilarating. "When do we leave?" He finally asked.

"1st of July; we'll be staying there until a week before you start your second year, so we can get yours, Hermione's and Mel's items for Hogwarts when we get back."

Harry attention perked at the mention of getting Melody school supplies too. He hadn't known she was Hogwarts bound as well. "So, Melody, you're going to Hogwarts too, are you excited?"

"Y-Yeah I am." Melody said shyly before she went back to eating her food, hoping the topic would change again so she wasn't in the spotlight.

"It was shocking when Professor McGonagall informed us that both our daughters were witches." Emma explained to Harry, who noticed that Melody seemed to flinch at the word witch.

"Oh!" Harry voiced out loud without meaning to as he figured it out. "I didn't have to deal with it since 'wizard' really doesn't have anything negative tacked onto it, but it must feel pretty strange to suddenly be called a witch, right?" He guessed.

Melody nodded, "I'm… still getting used to it. It still feels like whenever someone calls me a witch they're accusing me of something. It would be easier if we were all called Mages, or even if witches were called Sorceresses instead." She admitted slowly.

"I can see how that would make the transition easier. Speaking of which, I've noticed we really don't have a word to describe all of us as a whole. I've been using Magicals, but that's just my unofficial name." Harry admitted, happy that he was holding a sort-of conversation with the previously reclusive girl.

Hermione took that moment to finally voice what she wanted to say before Harry spoke up, looking faintly ashamed. "I'm so sorry Mel, it was such a small thing among the huge revelations that I completely forgot about it. I should have warned you about the labelling issue."

"No worries Hermione." Mel said with a smile.

"So what would you prefer to be called?" Harry wondered.

Mel thought about it about this for a moment before she said, "I think I would liked to be called a Mage, since it doesn't mean male or female, and I for one think it shows that we can do more then most think a Witch or Wizard can do. From what I've read, most fictional Witches and Wizards use wands or staffs, but I feel that magic can do much more then that. From what I've also read, some Magicals, as you call us, can use many different powers like elemental magic, for instance, that don't fall under what most consider normal. I would have said Sorceress, but from what I've read from Hermione's books that title's already in use along with Sorcerer."

Harry considered her perspective and found he agreed with her. "If that's what you'd prefer I'll use it if you like, but the Magical World, for all it's wonder, is a pretty closed minded place. Worst case scenario you're looked down upon for being a silly Muggleborn who's so arrogant she feels she needs a fancy title. Best case scenario nobody cares and it catches on." He finished quickly as he noticed her depressed look.

"Thanks for the warning." Melody said, her smile returning at Harry's assurance.

As this was happening Hermione and her parents smiled at the youngest Granger opening up to Harry; they were worried that Melody would be shy around Harry and wouldn't be able to talk to him for quite a while. Their worries were unfounded however was apparently quite skilled when it came to socializing the standoffish Granger daughters. Hermione and her parents shared thankful smiles Harry was integrating so well so quickly and started discussing what Hermione had learned about the Wizarding World in the hopes to learn more about the world and see where they could fit into it, leaving Harry and Melody to finish their conversation. When they did so the two joined it; the five of them talking for almost an hour before they realized how long they'd been sitting their in front of empty plates and started cleaning up. not long after the children were sent to bed.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_23th of June 1992:_

It has been a few days since Harry arrived at the Granger's and Harry would readily admit he was enjoying himself. His own bedroom was bigger than the one back at the Dursley's, by quite a bit, and everything was just a higher quality; the bed softer, the lamp brighter, the blankets warmer. Harry wasn't sure if it was because he felt like her truly belonged, and was a wanted presence in the Granger home, or simply because the Granger were more well-off than the Dursely's and could afford better things. It was likely a combination of both, but Harry preferred to think it was mostly the first reason. He also found he didn't have to cook anything for anybody, which was a shock. He liked cooking well enough, so he did make snacks and even lunch for everyone on several occasions. He had no chores, all he had to do was enjoy his summer. It was just too weird to do nothing though, and he insisted he be able to do a few jobs around the house, as thanks for having him.

Outside the house Harry went his time working in the gardens in the front and back yards with Emma's blessing once he explained that he took care of the Durely's garden, because it was relaxing work for him, and learning to swim in the backyard pool with Hermione and eventually Melody's help. The backyard was surrounded by huge trees and bushes so no one was able to see what was going on in the garden and the nearest house was about five minutes walk away.

It was currently a few days since Harry got to the Grangers, and he hadn't yet started to do any of his magical training. He knew he couldn't use his wand, as it had the Trace on it that would inform the mooks at the Ministry of Magic that he was doing magic. He was almost certain they couldn't detect him using his wandless abilities, but he wanted a few days before he restarted his training.

A few relaxing days later he decided it was time to start training again. It was doubtful he would get any time while in France, so he wanted to get some time in now. He and Aneira situated themselves in the backyard as the elder Grangers were at their dental practice in London and Melody and Hermione were in the Games Room.

He decided to start off with something he felt was needed; evasion training. Aneira would throw ice attacks at him and he either avoided or knocked them out of the air with his own attacks when he couldn't dodge. So far he was able to dodge about 80 percent of Aneira's assault when she was firing her slower attacks. "I think that'll do for now girl, let's see if you can ice over the pool." Harry eventually said once he felt he'd made some progress.

Aneira sent him an insulted look, telling him that she wasn't happy that he didn't think she could do something as easy as that. She sniffed and suddenly Harry's legs were encased in a block of ice; Harry didn't even notice because he was watching her ice over the pool. Harry laughed it off and soothed her bruised ego with compliments as he melted the ice off his leg.

An hour later Harry and Aneira were going full force, throwing elemental attacks at one another to improve their stamina. "Whoa, that's so cool!" It was lucky Harry and Aneira were taking a breather at that moment, and their latest attacks had already hit and cancelled each other out that neither of them was hurt.

As Harry and Aneira turned around to see who it was, they saw Melody sitting on the porch, "I'm sorry to surprise you, but I was just shocked to find someone who has the same powers as me, well, almost anyway. Is… is that a tiger?" Melody asked hesitantly as she stopped gushing about Harry's abilities.

Harry waved it off, "No problem, but next time wait for us to finish what we're doing before you say anything. We're not used to training with other people around and we get pretty engrossed in what we're doing. Oh and that's Aneira." He revealed. "She's a Tigran; a magical animal that can look like a normal house cat, or in this case kitten, or a tiger." Mel look in awe at this, as Harry went on to say, "So what do you mean by you've found someone who could do the same as you?"

Instead of saying anything, Mel snapped her finger and between them lightning crackled between her finger - it was like the lightning was dancing around her fingers.

Harry was shocked to see this, he thought that he was the only one that had an elemental power, but it seemed he was wrong. Who would have thought that the reclusive and hesitant girl could control such a powerful element? It gave Harry another reason to get to know her as her own person rather than the sister of his best friend. "That's wonderful Melody, do your parents and Hermione know about this?"

"Ah… no." Melody said shyly, reminding Harry of when they'd first met and she hadn't opened up to him yet.

"Does Hermione have a skill like this?" Harry inquired. He assumed Hermione would have said something, but like he'd said, it wasn't really something that came up in conversation. Even when she was asking about his abilities she may have been so focused on him mentioning her own abilities could have slipped her mind in her mental focus.

"Not as far as I know, no." Melody admitted. "When we were younger, strange things did happen around us, but we never realized - or possibly weren't willing to accept - that it was our doing. It was only last year that we found out why they'd happened. Hermione, as you can probably guess, wanted to learn everything from the official books. So instead of experimenting on her own when we found out it was us doing the strange things, when she got her wand and books, she started to learn from them, strictly following the lesson plan inside. However, I was the opposite; I didn't have copies of her books at the time, so I studied on my own. It worked out for the best anyway; I find I learn better with self study. I eventually read her books, and though they did help with my progress, they all seemed so… rigid. All the books seemed to be missing something. They explained things well enough, but if you wanted to unravel the magic on your own they were sorely lacking."

Harry was impressed at how Melody was acting; over the last few days she acted shy most of the time, but whenever she talked about magic she was like a completely different person. "You're right, the books only hold the basic information to learn wand magic. They don't do much else for you if you want to learn the how's and why's. I found the books in the Hogwarts Library a bit more help in that regard, but I've still found it easier to use the books as guides and just learn on my own."

Melody had a thoughtful look on her face as Harry told her this, "Interesting, I can't wait to go to Hogwarts next fall to see what I can learn from their Library. I did something very similar with my sisters books; using them as guidelines to see what I can do, rather than unquestionable proof." Melody explained to Harry, "Unlike my sister I refuse to believe the books contain every scrap of knowledge that exist on this and other subjects in the world. There are just so many things to learn and discover. It seems so… lazy, to think that someone has already discovered all there is to find of even the simplistic applications of magic and the world at large."

"Either way, since I didn't have a wand I had to experiment on what I can do could do without one. I had no real idea how or where to start, so I read a few comics to try and see where the people with magic in them started off. It took a while but I found that the most common trait was that the Mages in the stories and comics meditated to gain and control their new powers. So I got a few books and started to meditate, it took a while but I eventually found what I believe was my power within me."

Harry was amazed at the young girl's story, it was almost the same as his, but she didn't have any help from an imaginary friend/sister. He listened as she went on to say, "Once I found my power, the next task was learning how to control it and find out what I can do with it. My first try was shape shifting; from what I read in the comics I needed to focus on what I wanted to look like and will myself to look like it. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to change my appearance to look like another person." Melody looked downtrodden as she was told the skill she wanted to learn the most wasn't possible.

"There's nothing to be down about Melody, you've already made a lot of progress; just focus your willpower and you can do almost anything. I've learnt that as long as your body is able to handle the power strain, you can do anything you want; within reason. All you have to do is start small and keep on training. It'll get easier to do once you learn to get a good mental picture of what you want to do and find what your exact limits are. Just don't be upset if you can't do what you want to do instantly." Harry explained to the younger girl, finding himself comfortable in the impromptu roll of teacher he'd taken. "From what I've read, the ability to suddenly look like another person of the same gender by changing your appearance is what's called the Metamorphmagus ability, and it's an inborn trait that can't be learned. I've read there are quite a few skills you have to be born with if you want to learn them. Animagus magic; changing into animals, and being an elementalist like the two of us are just two examples. Still, it never hurts to try; you won't know if you have the potential if you don't try. And who knows, there might be other ways to learn new skills that we don't know of yet, we have to keep on looking."

Melody smiled warmly at Harry's supportive words; it was nice to talk to someone who had the same habits as her, even better that he'd been doing it for longer and had much to share. Maybe if she played her cards right, she could get him to teach her what he knew. "I didn't know that, thanks for the warning Harry." Melody said with a smile, grateful for the advise, "Since that I couldn't become a shape shifter like I wanted, I tried to learn other skills. I moved on to elemental skills; it was the next best group of powers I saw in the comics.

"I started offtrying the four basic elements;Earth, Fire, Wind and Water, but I just couldn't… feel them, is really the only way I can describe it."Melody explained to Harry, "So I thought about the other elements that some of the comic characters use. There are a lot of elemental powers, but when I went to school one day I finally got an idea for the first element to try. In our Science Class we were told that our body was made up of mainly of water, but also electrical impulses throughout our body. So, since I couldn't control water, I started to try and see if I could control electricity. It took a while, but I eventually realized that I could control the tiny amount of electricity the human body has stored. It took me months to do much of anything besides make my fingers spark. It wasn't until I realized I only had access to a tiny amount of energy that I started looking for ways to increase what I had on me."

Melody started to look sheepish as she slowly admitted. "I tried just wearing thick socks and rubbing my feet on the carpet, but it didn't do much of anything, so I uh… I kinda… stick my finger in a light socket?"

Harry shrugged off what most people would goggle at though. "I used a candle to check if fire I hadn't created would burn me, so I'm not really the one to judge you for that."

Melody looked grateful to not get a scolding for her actions and continued. "That isn't the only thing I learned though!" She said, her voice actually raising for the first time since Harry had met her as she proudly said, "I also learned to summon and banish things. Shape shifting may not have yielded any success, but I did learn how to change my body a different way. I read in comics that a character could transform into a monster of some kind, so I wanted to see if I could transform into a monster so I could I could become stronger. I knew it might not be possible to do so, but I wanted to at least try and see if I could." Melody's body started shifting, and she perked up like she remembered something before yanking the back of her waistband down for her pants. Harry was just about to ask about it before a zigzag shaped tail sprung up.

When her transformation was all done Harry stared at her blankly. "You're a Pikachu." He said flatly, as he remembered the Pokemon show that Harry saw Dudley saw one time.

Melody's red circled cheeks puffed out. "I am not! Well, okay, I've never looked at myself in a mirror or anything, but I'm sure I'm absolutely terrifying and powerful."

"You're a Pikachu." Harry repeated. "Not a four legged one though, more like if someone slapped a Pikachu costume on a person." And he was right, Melody still walked on two legs, the only thing that had really changed were her ears had become long and pointed, she'd sprouted a lightning bolt shape tail, and her hands and feet had become padded. Aside from being completely covered in yellow fur - except for the black tips of her ears and the first half of her tail being brown - a very short muzzle where her lower face used to be, and a very slight bust increase, which Harry didn't even notice, she was largely the same. He'd been expecting something a little more frightening.

Harry smiled cheerfully, causing Melody to come back from the embarrassed mood she'd slipped into as Harry eyed her up and down. "Despite of the craziness of becoming a well known and entirely fictional creature instead of something real, this is really amazing Melody; you have a good grasp of your powers. I hope we can train together some time. You look really cute like that by the way."

"T-thanks Harry." Melody said bashfully. Though it couldn't be seen through her fur she was blushing at Harry, a boy she admitted was very cute himself, complimenting her. Changing the subject she spoke as she transformed back. "I was wondering, could I become your Apprentice Master Vulcan."

Harry blinked, not expecting her to even know that nickname, much less make such a request. "How did you hear that name?" He asked first.

"Hermione was talking about her year and she let slip that her and your Study Group called you Vulcan, and a pair of 'trouble making gingers' called you Master Vulcan." She explained. "At the time I wasn't sure why they would call you that, but now that I've seen your powers it makes sense; the Roman God Vulcan was the God of Fire and Blacksmithing. Have you ever about trying your hand at smithing?" Melody asked as an afterthought.

"I hadn't, no, but it's an interesting hobby idea once I own a house that could support it." Harry ceded, interested in the idea. "I'll have to look in the library and see if they have any books about getting into the art."

"I'm sure there's something. There has to be, if what Hermione says about the size of the school library is true. If not, I'm sure you'll find something someday." Melody reasoned. "Back to my point, though." She said suddenly. "I'm guessing you know a few things that I don't know, possibly a lot of things. So I wanted to become your Apprentice so you can teach me what you know. I've heard Hermione mention you're a natural when it comes to teaching."

"Thank you, but I really don't know much." Harry said modestly. "There are many things I haven't tried, or know nothing about; I'm still learning what I can do."

"I understand that, but you still know more then me and could help me learn more about my powers and what I can do with them. Not only because you have more experience, but because a second head is always better than one lone perspective. I still want to become your Apprentice. Once you run out of new things to teach me we can just start learning together. So what do you say, well you help me, Master?" She questioned.

Harry liked the idea of having a student, someone with powers similar to his own he could talk to and experiment with. However, this was really the first time Harry's had ever been called master in a tone that wasn't joking, or light hearted; in the back of his mind darker thoughts dwelled, but were held at bay by how happy Harry's life had been, and the lack of hormones needed to fuel them. Still, if only for a moment, Harry looked at Melody with a calculating gaze, not just weighing her current worth, but her future value as well.

He saw a needy girl, so overjoyed that she found someone like herself that she was jumping head first into things, without her usual cautious, hesitant manner. He saw a girl that would one day become a very sexy woman, but could be trained and molded into something even greater. Something that would be completely loyal to him, that would be willing to do anything for him, even sexual things.

And then the moment passed, and he was back to thinking about purely the now; how good it would be to help her and have someone to help him in return, learning new things together at a pace far greater than it would be individually. Harry nodded slowly, a smile growing on his face as he accepted the idea. "Fine, but please call me Harry. 'Master Vulcan' is something a few of my friends like to call me as a joke. I think working together will be very beneficial for us."

Melody smirked, an expression not seen often on her face. "Thank you Master Vulcan, I'll be your loyal Apprentice." Before he could raise a fuss she waved him off. "I'll call you Harry, but only when you're not teaching me. We can keep the training and friendship separate, and you won't hold back, you can do whatever you need to train me, even if I don't like it.I thinkit'll make things easier for us. You may need to instruct me in such a way that friends can't do for whatever reason, it it'd be better to take a step back, so to speak, to see the situation from a detached mindset."

Harry nodded, hesitantly at first but growing more sure as he worked it out. The Master/Apprentice role would allow him to do things that being friends just wouldn't. Before they could discuss it more Hermione came out to the backyard… and froze when she saw the slab of ice that used to be the pool. "H-Harry, what happened here?" She asked, wide eyed.

Seeing Hermione, and realizing he'd left the pool frozen, Harry smiled sheepishly and said "Sorry, me and Aneira were training and I uh… kinda forgot about the pool. I'll fix it." He added.

However, just as he started to warm up the water, Hermione cut in, "Harry!" She barked in a loud whisper, looking around frantically as if the authorities were hiding in the bushes, waiting for an admission of guilt, "We're not suppose to do magic outside of school!"

"No, we've been told that we can't do magic with our _wands_, there's no rule saying that we can't do magic _without_ them." Harry said with a smirk. His jovial mood vanished, a darker one taking it's place. "We can't use our wands because of the Trace on them, but I'll bet certain wards block the signal the Ministry is supposed to get or they use a wand that doesn't have a Trace on it. Without parents that can cast this ward or them not having a wand, we're left with no way to practice magic."

Hermione and Melody both paused as they worked it out. Hermione looked like she was trying to mentally deny it, wanting to believe the people of Magical Britain were better than that, but Melody, with no attachment to the Magical World or it's people, scowled at the very idea.

By the time they came out of their respective thought the pool was once more regulated and back to normal. Harry gestured towards the pool and Hermione wordlessly dove in, not wishing to talk about what Harry had suggested. Melody, on the other hand, walked up next to Harry and whispered, "We'll talk later."

Harry nodded next to her, but goggled when he looked back at her when she walked away. When she'd transformed and pulled her pants down because she didn't want them to rip because of her tail she'd never pulled them back up, so the stretchy material of her pants was still there, just below her butt. "M-Melody." He squeaked, his voice cracking awkwardly for reasons Harry didn't know. When she turned around he wordless pointed to her behind.

Melody's eyes widened as she placed her hand on her naked butt, which was in full view of Harry, and immediately yanked up her pants with a squeak, walking quickly back inside, her face completely red.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_30th of June 1992:_

It has been a week since Harry and Melody had talked about their powers. The two had really hit it off, spending quite a bit of time talking about magic and even experimenting when no one else was around, at least for the first few days. The benefits of having two minds working together were already showing; Mel - as she'd insisted Harry call her - was able to create a small ball of lightning, something that Mel was proud about and was thankful to Harry for.

Mel had been too excited about finally mastering the lightning ball and had been shooting them at a tree when Hermione cam outside to check what the noise was about. She was understandably shocked when she saw what Mel was doing, but was mollified when Harry explained he was carefully watching over what she was doing. Hermione soon joined these sessions with them, giving any advise she could. It wasn't always useful advice, but they all admitted she was at a disadvantage, not having an elemental ability of her own.

Although he insisted she simply call him by his name Harry quickly discovered that Mel continued calling him Master Vulcan when they were training, only when Hermione wasn't around, despite his instructions. She would tease him when they weren't training and when they were alone by calling him Master, knowing full well how wound up and flustered it got him when she did so. While he put that out of his mind, a small distant part of him still got a rush out of it.

Once Hermione was happy they were taking the precautions needed to keep safe, she asked if they could try and see if she had any powers. After several days of failed attempts at trying to find any extra powers she might have, a depressed Hermione realized that she didn't have any inborn traits. But Harry and Mel were quick to point out she was the smartest person they knew and her quantity of known spells was way above Harry's. Harry also pointed out how absurdly rare his and Mel's situation was; the fact that two elementals were born so close together, and in such close proximity was almost unheard of. Not to mention just because she needed a wand to cast magic didn't mean she couldn't do everything Harry and her sister could do, they just needed to find her the right spells. It also wasn't like Elemental and Metamorphagus magic was the only kind of inborn trait or special skill out there, they just had to keep looking for these skills and how to make them work. Hermione smiled as they told her this, knowing that her friend and sibling and would try and help her in any way they could.

They were briefly interrupted from their training when Emma took Harry and the girls clothes shopping. Emma had clicked her tongue when she saw the state of Harry's wardrobe and didn't rest until he had a completely knew one, which she paid for. Harry wasn't happy about that, it felt like they were doing so much for him already and it felt like he was freeloading. Still, there was little Harry could do about it, so he went along with things. Both Mel and Hermione both agreed to force Harry to have some fun; all training and no fun makes Harry a dull person. So they helped him to learn to swim, and played a few games in the Game Room and finished up their homework.

On another front, Harry had started to get worried about his friends; they hadn't yet replied to any of his letters, or written any of their own letters yet. He knew they had their own plans, but writing a letter didn't take all that long, just a few minutes for a short letter would have eased his worry a great deal. Old insecurities were rearing their head and it wasn't a nice feeling.

It was now the night before they were meant to leave for France and Harry had just brought up the issue with Hermione. Emma, nearby, heard his worries as he explained them to her daughter and spoke up, "You know Harry, they might just be busy and haven't had time to reply. Some people have a great deal of trouble writing letters, and they may want to make them perfect before sending them off but don't have the time."

"I know Emma, but I thought that at least one of them would have replied." Harry said.

Emma had no real response to that. Harry social circle was pretty good sized, the chance of none of them being able to spare half an hour to write something was very small. Then a thought came to her, as she said, "You did say that some of your friends don't have an owl right?" Harry nodded in affirmation. "Maybe they haven't had time to get to where they can use an owl and post the reply. You said the Weasley twins owl was old, so maybe they decided to wait until they can get to another owl become writing to you. As for the others, as highly unlikely it is, it is possible that their owl may have some kind of avian illness, it was on the news lately that a few wild birds have been taken ill recently. So it's possible that might have happened. Hopefully by the time return from our trip they should have replied to you, if not you can ask them when you get back to Hogwarts why they didn't write you back. Until then relax, hopefully the trip will put your mind off things."

"You're right Emma." Harry sighed. "I'll be able to ask them about it when I return to Hogwarts. Like you said, I'm sure there's a logical explanation for everything."

Harry had just finished saying this when a small, emaciated looking creature literally popped into their living room; literally appearing out of nowhere with a popping sound. The creature seemed to ignore everyone else in the room and zeroed in on him, who was staring surprised at the pointy eared being just like everyone else in the room.

Now if it was another time and place, if Harry had a different up being, he would have been kinder to the creature in front of him. But this Harry wasn't that person, and so didn't care if he upset the creature. Harry shifted into a ready position, his expression dark and cautious as he said, "Who or _what _are you?"

"Dobby, sir. Just Dobby. Dobby is a House-Elf." Said the creature, "Dobby heard that Harry Potter was going back to Hogwarts, even though Dobby hoped that should Harry Potter sir thoughts that if Harry Potter's friends didn't write to him, Harry Potter wouldn't wouldn't go back to Hogwarts. Dobby must warn Harry Potter, _Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts_."

Harry scoffed at the idea and looked at the weird creature in front of him as if he was mad, "Not going back to Hogwarts, like that going to happen… hell would have to frozen over before I don't return to Hogwarts. I've -" Then Harry thought something that this… Dobby thing had just said. "How do _you _know my friends haven't been writing me?"

Dobby shuffled his feet. "Harry Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby. Dobby did it for the best-"

"_Have you been stopping my letters?_" Harry asked darkly with flames in his eyes.

"D-Dobby has them here, sir." The elf stuttered fearfully. Stepping nimbly out of Harry's reach, he pulled a thick wad of envelopes from the inside of the pillowcase he was wearing. Harry could make out his friends' handwriting.

Dobby blinked anxiously up at Harry. "Harry Potter mustn't be angry… Dobby hoped… if Harry Potter thought his friends had forgotten him… Harry Potter might not want to go back to school, sir…"

Harry wasn't listening. He made a grab for the letters, but Dobby jumped out of reach.

"Harry Potter will have them back, sir, if he gives Dobby his word that he will not return to Hogwarts. Ah, sir, this is a danger you must not face! Say you won't go back, sir!"

"That's not going to happen." Harry stated firmly as he grabbed Dobby's arm, quickly throwing the small creature over his shoulder and making his way into the kitchen. He looked back over his free shoulder and said, "I'll be back in a minute."

The Grangers were so mystified at the odd sight of the strange creature appearing in their house that they didn't know what to say or do. By the time they recovered Harry was already walking back into the room with a pasty white and shaking Dobby stumbling behind him. Dobby wordlessly shoved a thick packet of letters into Harry's hands, which almost fell to the ground in the haste to give them to the last Potter before he left, but not before shakily telling Harry to not go back to Hogwarts and he would make sure that he didn't if Harry didn't listen to him.

Staring at him Hermione asked, "Harry what did you do to the poor creature?"

Harry looked at her in disbelieve, that so called poor creature was keeping his letters from him, and that in Harry's book allowed him to do whatever he needed to do to get them back. "I convince him what a bad idea it was not to give my letters to me, that's all…" All four of them looked at in disbelieve, they knew there was more to it then met the eye. Harry realized this, and knew they wouldn't give up until he told them. "I threatened him with Aneira, telling him that if he didn't give my letters back and stop stealing my mail I would feed him to her." There may have also been fire and a kitchen knife involved in that threat, but they didn't need to know that.

The four Grangers now understood the reason for Dobby to white as a ghost and shaking when he left, they all knew what Aneira looked like in her tiger form. While his methods made the elder Grangers uncomfortable they couldn't think of a better way to have gone about it, so decided to change the subject.

"So what was Dobby?" Emma asked after a few moments, "He said something about being a House-Elf?"

"I don't know." Hermione admitted, "I haven't started to read about magical creatures yet." To be honest, until now she really didn't have a reason to look them up yet.

Then they looked at Harry, who looked a bit sheepish as he said, "I only know this because I was bored and had nothing else to do during our exams, so I just picked a book at random book to read, and it was about Magical Creatures coincidentally enough. The Summary on House Elf history was pretty slim, the author didn't known where they came from but could only guess they were either made of solidified magic gathered over time in magical hotspots or an offshoot of another race that died out. House Elves can use a unique kind of magic and are symbiotic in nature. The book says that they're a Servant Race bonded to a Magical Family. The family doesn't need to be particularly powerful or old, just as long as they're magical and had money, thought the older families are the ones with the most elves through virtue of the creatures living so long."

"That sounds like maids and butlers that we have in the normal world," Dan noted. "but the way that Dobby character looked and acted, it was if he was some kind of badly treated slave."

"You might not be far off there." Harry shook his head sadly. "The book explained that while most were treated like hired help there are those who treat their House-Elves badly. To most Muggleborns it doesn't help that the House-Elves don't get paid."

"What? That's horrible!" Hermione exclaimed, an opinion that was mirrored by the other Grangers with nods of agreement. "That's sound exactly like slavery! We should free them somehow."

"Don't even think about it Hermione." Harry snapped at her, shocking the Grangers. "You're just proving the Purebloods right about not having Muggleborns into the Wizarding World."

"What do you mean?" Emma asked Harry, concerned. Harry had explained about Purebloods, Half-Bloods and Muggleborns a few nights ago when she was talking about the Wizarding World.

"Most Purebloods believe that Muggleborns shouldn't be allowed into the Wizarding World, Half-Bloods are barely accepted, but are more accepted than Muggleborns." Harry explained to the Grangers. "The reason for this is because Muggleborns often try and alter or outright change their customs. I'm sure everyone with common sense can clearly see that some customs _should _be changed the way, but how the majority of Muggleborns go about it is wrong. Most come into it thinking they're superior to the Purebloods because they think that most of the Purebloods customs are barbaric and backwards. Considering some of the customs _are _barbaric and backwards this standpoint can be forgiven, but it doesn't change the fact that Muggleborns think they know better and it goes to their head. When Muggleborns want to change things, they often get a big head thinking they are right, and force the changes instead of talking to the authorities and elected officials."

Harry sighed, "I blame the Purebloods for part of this, because they don't - and even actively prevent - teach and explain about their customs to the Muggleborns. Like Hermione just demonstrated it's easy to make a snap judgement, but we don't have all the information. For instance, House-Elves _need _to bond to a family, or even a location if there's enough magic, if not they slowly go crazy and die, in that order. Not only that, but it's only possible for the _Master _of the individual elf free a House-Elf by giving them clothes." Harry gave Hermione a pointed look when he said this, as to warn her, as he knew if he didn't, she would do something stupid and try and free the House-Elves somehow. "So not only would you need to convince hundreds of people to give up their free servants, but you'd also just end up killing them. Not even Hogwarts can support that many House Elves. The only true 'free' Elves, is the ones that live in areas that have high amount of magic. Sadly there aren't that many places in the world, and the majority of these places have other creatures that live there that need that magic, creatures that would fight to the death to defend their home from other creatures that want to move into their land if they need to, if the land didn't have enough magic for them all. So if you really want to help them, I'd suggest making it so there are laws in place to regulate how they're treated."

He took a deep breathe as he winded down. "Sorry to rant like that, but that needed to be said before Hermione built up steam." He returned her mock glare with an amused smile. "Now if you don't mind, I'll see what these letters say, I'll see you all in the morning." Harry finished before bidding them all good night. The Grangers returned the gesture, still thinking about what he'd said; if nothing else could be said about the family, it's that they were thinkers through and through.

An hour later Harry finally finished reading his letters. They were all pretty basic; 'How are you doing, I'm doing blank. I'm having a lot of fun with blank, how is it in a Muggle house?', questions and such like that. He quickly replied to the letters, making a small identical message at the top of all of them explaining why he hadn't written back to them and that he might not being able to write back even now that he'd fixed the problem since he would be going on holiday the next day.

The only letter of note was from Susan. She explained that she had talked to her aunt and during their talks the subject of Familiars and eventually Aneira came up. Amelia, Susan's aunt, had ended up wondering if he and Aneira had bonded completely. Susan went on to explain the process in case he was unfamiliar; it was simple enough, Aneira would bite him hard enough to make him bleed in her Tiger form so she could drink his blood and her saliva would be in his bloodstream. Harry briefly wondered why he hadn't done it before, but then remembered he would be left bedridden for several days so their magic could intertwine, and so he hadn't had time while school was still in session.

Harry replied that he had not bonded with his Familiar, but likely would when he got back from France and had a few days he could spend out of commission.

Hedwig looked delighted at all the mail and glared daggers at him when he tried to tell her which letters were for who. Harry chuckled, gave her an owl treat in apology for his lack of faith in her abilities and a scratch on the neck in the spot she really liked and sent her on her way. After that was all done he had nothing left to do, so he turned in for the evening.

_**TO BE CONTINUED!**_

_**Authors Note: **_Here ends another chapter of Vulcan, I thank you for reading and I hope that you keep on reading and enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing this. I hope you like Hermione's sister, the idea for her just came to me when I thought on what I could add to the story. I hope that if you enjoyed the story, you'll spend a few more minutes and review this story.

Now you'll notice the reference of Pokemon, and all you Pokemon Fans out there know that they won't out in this year, 1992, but for Mel's Monster Form, my beta reader and I decided to alter the timeline a bit to fit it into the story. So you know, the plot for this story has changed, so I need some help with a new one. As I'm not doing the Overlord plot and that has altered what I have planned so I would like to hear your thoughts. I'm still doing to have Fairy Tail, and most likely Charmed, but not sure about the how they'll connect now… so if you got some ideas please let me know.

This is what Mel well look in her Pikachu form, albeit far less busty and curvy, for now: smosh-pit / 052011 /


	6. Chapter 6 - Summer Part 2!

_**Warning:**___Underage Lime.

_**Chapter 6**_

_1st of July:_

That morning the Grangers and Harry got up early to do the last minute packing, things forgotten or neglected to be packed the night before. At half ten they left for Portsmouth International to catch the half twelve ferry to Cherbourg in France. When they got to Portsmouth International France just after eleven, they did a bit of shopping and decided to have a early lunch. During lunch, Harry asked how long would it take them to get to Cherbourg. Dan explained it would take about four and a half hours trip to Cherbourg, but they would be staying a motel for the night. Then the next day after doing some sightseeing and shopping they would begin their twelve hours drive to The Grande Cosse. Seeing Harry's shock expression at how long it was going to take them, Emma explained they would spending the night at another motel, before finishing their drive to The Grande Cosse. Then Dan went on to explain that The Grande Cosse was a nudist camp, which had their own beach away from the public.

Emma reassured Harry that only part of their time would be spent there, and that he did not have to take all of his clothes off if he felt uncomfortable doing so. Harry was happy about that, but for some reason he was unsure about, although he was nervous about being naked around strangers and the Grangers, he was excited about being able to experience something so different.

As they were waiting for the Ferry to leave, Emma and Dan were in the bar getting something to drink while Harry, Hermione and Mel were looking around the ship. During their travels they would stop by any shop that looked like it was selling comics. Since it was going to be a long journey they wanted something to read, and secretly help plan new training experiments, if possible. Melody decided to get some Star Wars comics because she and her father were into Star Wars.

Harry was not able to find the comics he normally read, so he bought a Japanese comic called a 'Manga' that the clerk recommended called Naruto. The basic plot was fairly interesting so Harry decided to give it a try; the day the protagonist of the story, Naruto Uzumaki, was used as a baby to seal a Great Demon Fox, the Kyuubi no Yoko, attacked the Leaf Village, within him - as nothing the people could do would kill the Demon. Sadly, both his parents died doing this, and Naruto grew up alone, even ostracised at times because some people thought he was the Fox in disguise. Harry could empathize in some ways, and that, from what he believed, was essential to enjoying comics of any kind.

Hermione was luckier and found her normal fair in stock; the comics known as Birds of Prey; it about Barbara Gordon who used to be known as Batgirl until The Joker paralyzed her. Later, she founded the Birds of Prey, a team of female heroes. Hermione liked this comic because not only was it about a team of female 11, but they had no superpowers of their own, fighting crime with only their own wits and fighting skill.

Once they got their comics they returned to Emma and Dan at the bar where they all went to the poolside for a few hours to swim or sunbathe. Afterwards, just before they landed at Cherbourg, they had something to eat, followed by some minor sightseeing after reaching ground before they booked into the Hotel Du Louvre for the night.

That night Melody, Hermione and Harry were in Harry's room, talking about the comics they purchased that afternoon. Melody started things off, "Harry, I was wondering if we could try some of the skills in the Star Wars comics. Some of the abilities seemed like they could be possible."

"How so?" Harry asked while Hermione perked up. The bushy haired Granger was less interested in Star Wars compared to her father and Mel, but she was still familiar enough with the 'verse through second hand info she could safely agree there was some stuff that they could try out.

"You already copied the powers like Force Pull and Push." Melody explained. "So I don't think it would too hard to copy the other Force Powers. It's not like we need to follow the Jedi Code or anything, so we're not limited to Jedi or Sith abilities. Shame I won't be able to use Force Lightning for a while though; looks like it'd take a huge amount of energy."

Harry barely paid attention to the Light and Dark distinctions in real life, so fictional ones never crossed his mind. Pushing onward without a passing glance he asked, "So what skills do you think we should start off with?"

"I'm not too sure, but I think Mind Trick could be a good one to have eventually." Melody reasoned. "Being able to alter a person's mind would be useful. It's basically hypnotism, and the Sith version also lets you use a person's worst fears against them. Not saying we ever would, because that seems excessively cruel, but the option is there."

"As for an ability to learn first… well Force Slow sounds like a really good move to use against other Mages. It would slow them down physically and mentally, limiting their choice of spells and ability to cast and aim them quickly." Melody suggested.

With a thoughtful look on his face Harry was silent for several moments before he mentioned, "Not a bad idea, but how can we learn these skills?"

Melody was the one with the thoughtful look now. Unfortunately, the answer eluded her. "To be honest, I'm not sure myself." She admitted to Harry and her sister. "I think it was explained in one of the comics that I read before. I can look for them once we get home; they should be in the attic somewhere. If not we can always just experiment until we make some progress. Are you going to tell me the idea of making up a new power doesn't seem fun? A power that only we and the people we want to learn it? Sure it'll be hard, but that's half the fun… or it is to me at least." She finished hesitantly, realizing how excited she was getting.

Harry had to admit he did like the idea; it was an appealing thought. Even if they only learn the basic idea of the skill from the source material it would be a start in the right decision. Harry smiled excitedly, making Melody's brief insecurities disappear. "You're right, it would be fun. In fact there's a skill that I would like to learn from these Naruto comics called the Shadow Clone Jutsu. It's a skill to make copies of yourself; not only that but whatever the Clone learns, once you cancel the Clone or Clones, whatever they learn you would learn too. So I was thinking it would be very useful to learn if we wanted to obtain a large amount of information quicker. Even if we can only make one Clone that still doubles the information gain." He said, knowing full well both girls would be all but salivating at the thought.

His assumption was correct, Melody's unfocused eyes stared at the space three inches to Harry's left as she imagined all the books she could read. A blush overtook her face as her hidden dirty side flashed a mental image of her being snuggled by two Harry's at once, but she quickly shook it off.

Hermione, in a similar state, only staring four inches to Harry's right, was in an almost identical state, only being older her fantasies were slightly more advanced, involving kissing and wandering hands.

Before they could say or think more about this, or talk about the other skills they would have liked to learn, there was a knock on the door. Harry, being the closest, answered it. The door opened to reveal Dan and Emma.

"Okay you three, it's time for bed." Emma announced, getting moans of disappointments for it. "I know you want to stay up, but we've got a few long days ahead of us before we get to The Grande Cosse." She elaborated for Harry's benefit. "Really, did you think we would put you through a ten hour drive and not make stops along the way to sightsee? That would be exceptionally boring and a huge waste of potential fun. Besides, if we spent ten solid hours in the car none of us would be able to walk when we tried to get out."

Harry smiled at this, he was not exactly thrilled about the prospect of being in the car, as spacious as it was, for that long. Bidding the Grangers goodnight he endured a double 'Hermi-hug' from both the creator and a practitioner before they all went to their respective room and he laid down on his bed.

_2nd of July:_

The next day Harry and the Grangers got up early so they could have breakfast and leave by eight o'clock. They did this so they could arrive in Paris around noon. This would allow them to spend a few hours before carrying on with their trip before staying at another hotel for the night.

The four hour ride sped by and, before they knew it, they were in Paris. The five of them visited the Eiffel Tower, the American Library near the Tower and a few other places before going to the _Rue de Lumière_, Paris' equivalent to _Diagon Alley_. Unlike back in England, where they had to enter an old rundown bar like Leaky Cauldron, they had to go through Café Magique. Café Magique, like the Leaky Cauldron, was warded so that only people who had or knew about magic could see it. The outside had four tables, with five chairs around them. The area around the cafe was ringed with a hedge and some beautiful flowers outside the cafe. Inside the cafe was even better; it was colourful and had a welcoming feeling to it, unlike the Leaky Cauldron, as it was much brighter. There was nothing overtly magical about the place, despite the potential for it to.

As they approached the counter, Emma asked the lady who was in her mid twenties. "Hi, my family and I would like to enter _Rue de Lumière_ please."

"Of course," The woman behind the desk said, "follow me."

Harry and the Granger Family followed the lady to the back of the shop. As they got to the back, the lady pulled her wand out of her pocket and tapped it on the wall, which made a doorway to appear.

As they walked though they saw that the alley was… strikingly similar to Diagon Alley. Everything was in French, the items sold in the shops were slightly or vastly different depending on where you looked, but it was still largely the same looking. The only immediately apparent distinction was actually the light posts. Every one of the metal poles was twisted and gnarled, but in such a way that looked interestingly artistic. At the top of these poles were five metal framed, glass windowed diamond shaped lanterns with one large one in the center, and four smaller diamonds at the four corners. In the place of candles were balls of light, clearly made by magic.

As Harry and the Grangers walked down _Rue de Lumière_, they saw posters of a wizard with wavy blonde hair and particularly straight and shiny teeth wearing a flamboyant and flashy blue robe. Like other magical posters, it was moving, giving the ladies charming smiles. Hermione whispered to Melody that she thought he was somewhat handsome. Harry scoffed, not seeing what was so attractive about the man. He just looked _too _perfect, like he was a doll or manufactured somehow. To distract himself he read the text at the bottom of the poster aloud.

_Today at Flourish and Blotts:_

_GILDEROY LOCKHART_

_Who'll be signing copies of his new book:_

_MAGICAL ME_

_Today 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m._

"Ooh I've heard of him!" Hermione said giddily. "He's done so many things in his book, like in Wanderings with Werewolves he defeated the Wagga Wagga Werewolf. He's one of the few living heroes in the Wizarding World. Mum can we see him?" Hermione asked her mother eagerly, Melody agreeing next to her silently with a small nod and eager look.

Harry shook his head, unable to be bothered to care overly much; just because he disliked the man at first glance did not mean he would make a big fuss about it.

Emma and Dan exchanged almost exasperated looks, like they were resigned to have something like this happen eventually, before they agreed to take a look.

As they got to the bookstore they saw the front crowded up with what seemed to be made up mostly of witches around Emma's age and older. A harassed-looking wizard stood at the door, saying, "Calmly, please, ladies… don't push, there… mind the books, now…" At first the message was in French, which the Grangers could all understand - Harry could decipher it, but it took longer since he was still learning the language - then he held his wand up to his throat and continued the message in several different languages, only one of which the group understood, that being English.

Harry, Melody, and Hermione squeezed inside. A long line wound right to the back of the shop, where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books. They all looked for books that could help them learn new skills or even create spells, but were not having much luck.

"Oh, there you three are, good." Emma said as she caught up. She sounded breathless and kept patting her hair, probably because of all the people pushing their way around; Emma would have needed to shove even harder to get to her children and their friend. "You shouldn't run off like that with this many people, you could get hurt or worse, kidnapped." The trio apologized so Emma moved on, "Now we should get in line, I hear Lockhart will be here any minute now."

Gilderoy Lockhart came slowly into view, seated at a table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the crowd. The real Lockhart was wearing robes of forget-me-not blue that exactly matched his eyes; his pointed wizard's hat was set at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair.

A tall, irritable-looking man was dancing around taking photographs with a large black camera that emitted puffs of purple smoke with every blinding flash.

"Out of the way, there." He snarled at Melody, moving back to get a better shot. "This is for the _Daily Prophet _and _The Magique News Weekly_-"

Harry was quick to rise to her defense, delighting in an opportunity to vent some frustration gained from this whole ordeal. "Big deal!" He snapped, stamping hard on the photographers foot. While Harry had intended to merely make a pointed statement, the end result of probably breaking a bone in the man's foot was quite satisfying, especially once he saw Melody flinch when she took a step back, her own foot smarting from when the man had stepped on hers.

Gilderoy Lockhart heard the photographer's pained expletive and looked up. His eyes instantly locked onto the disgruntled form of Harry Potter glaring at the man, two girls, obviously sisters by their similar appearance causing him to start. Everything seemed to be going his way the last few weeks. Of all the places in the world, he would scarcely have believed he would see the Boy-Who-Lived here in France. He leapt to his feet and positively shouted, "It can't be, Harry Potter?"

The crowd parted, whispering excitedly; Lockhart dived forward, seizing Harry's arm, and pulled him to the front. The crowd burst into applause. Harry's face burned as Lockhart shook his hand for the photographer, who was clicking away madly, wafting thick smoke over the Grangers, seemingly oblivious to his possibly broken toes.

But it didn't last long, Harry yanked his arm out of the blond's grasp and glared, "Get the hell away from me, I don't know you. You've got no right to touch me."

"Hoho, I'm sorry my boy, I'm Gilderoy Lockhart!" Lockhart announced grandiosely as he took hold of Harry's arm. "Now nice big smile, Harry." Lockhart said quieter through his gleaming teeth. "Together, you and I are worth the front page."

The timing seemed to be perfect as the photographer clicked a photo precisely when Harry's elbow buried itself in Gilderoy Lockhart's abdomen. The crowd gaped and gasped as Lockhart dropped to the floor clutching his damaged stomach. Eyes were taken off Lockhart as he groaned in pain, focusing solely on Harry as he glared even harder at the man and spat, "I told you to stop."

Harry walked back to the Grangers, the crowd parting like the Red Sea in front of the angry boy. "Can we please go now?" Harry asked Emma, his tone annoyed for obvious reasons.

Emma smiled at him and nodded, taking her shocked daughters by the shoulders and leading them out of the book store. It was surprising nobody bothered them on the way out, but attention swiftly shifted back towards Lockhart as he climbed to his feet and made some kind of announcement.

"As long as we steer clear of the bookstore we should be able to avoid any rabid fans. Still, we should hurry things along." Emma decided.

Harry sighed, feeling guilty he was cutting things short. "I'm sorry -"

Emma was quick to cut that train of thought off though. "No, I'm proud of you. Just because someone is famous doesn't give them the right to get handsy with you like that. You gave him fair warning and he ignored it. He deserved it."

"W-Wait a moment!" Harry and the Grangers heard Lockhart say as they were about to leave. Lockhart knew needed to do something quickly if he wanted to save some face and protect his public image. "I want to apologise." As he said this, the group looked at him in interest, not expecting it. "I'm afraid my exuberance got the better of me, most are delighted to shake the hand of someone so famous, or have a picture taken with them. My assumption that you, Mr. Potter, would be the same seems to have led me into a faux pas, and I apologize."

Lockhart held out his hand, a grin once more on his face. This one was less gleaming though and far more friendly. Seeing this, and Emma's encouraging look, Harry returned the handshake with one of his own. He only did so, like Lockhart, so he would not lose face in the public eye. He knew that people back England, and other places who looked up to him as the Boy-Who-Lived would look down on him if he refused to accept the apology from someone like Lockhart. The crowd took that moment to burst into applause, punctuated by rapid flashes of the camera.

Once the clamour had died down Lockhart's grin once more became toothy and fake looking, at least to Harry, and he spoke, his voice louder so everyone would hear. "In return for my earlier rudeness I shall repay young Harry and his two friends with a free copy of my complete Box Set!"

Harry had to admit, the man knew how to work the crowd, but the man had more to say. "Of course, that's not all! Mr. Potter and his companions will be getting much, much more than my book, _Magical Me_. I was hoping to keep this a bit longer, but he and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real "Magical Me." Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

Harry almost rolled his eyes at how utterly excited the gathered witches were; he even saw a few faint. It was times like this he wondered how people could get so worked up over something like this. If every one of Lockhart's books were to be believed he was quite the hero, but the chance of none of his books being exaggerated for either entertainment purposes or to make Lockhart look good was dismal at best and nonexistent at worst.

None of his feats were any indicator he would be a good teacher though. A guest speaker, definitely, but not a full time teacher. He also found it strange that Dumbledore found someone so fast, then again, from what he heard around Hogwarts, Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers rarely last more than a year and sometimes not even that long. With that in mind it was no surprise that Dumbledore could get Lockhart so fast, he must have been on the back up list.

Harry, Hermione and Melody were given their books almost as soon as he was finished with the announcement, and were actually swept away by the suddenly ravenous crowd. Luckily, they were all deposited back into the street, dazed but unhurt, and so decided to just leave.

Once the group finished their sightseeing and shopping in Paris, they went to a town called Orléans, staying in the Hôtel Marguerite for the night. That night while everyone was asleep Harry read though the books that Lockhart gave him. As he steadily made his way through the books his urge to light them all on fire grew along with his general disgust: half the dates contradicted each other, only about a quarter of the spells were even real, the other spells were either fake or had completely different effects from what was described in the books. Not to mention that a cure for Lycanthropy simply did not exist, which should have been a major tip off. Even if the cure was stupidly expensive to make, it would still be a well known and documented spell or potion. There were always rich people either looking to curry favour, or even simply stockpile it 'just in case'.

This particular scene called back to Harry's earlier assumption about the narrative being exaggerative though. His tiny amount of understanding of the Latin language revealed that Homorphus meant roughly 'Shape of Man', so the spell, if it even existed, could possibly revert a Werewolf back into their human form, and the book just took the supposed spell to its theatrical extreme and cured the afflicted Were. It certainly made for a happy ending, so Harry would normally excuse it, but the books were passed off as fact, not fiction.

It was like it in most of the books; there were dates overlapping, spells were wrong, fake, or exaggerated, and in general they read like a flattering exposé, rather than a credible DADA textbook. The only thing the books did _right _was show Lockhart in a good light. Harry didn't know how so many people hadn't seen this before. Was there a spell on the books to make it so people couldn't see these mistakes, or were Wizards and Witches as stupid as Harry thought they were by default? Harry admitted to himself that witches had an excuse, apparently Lockhart was exceptionally handsome, so females were reading the books for reasons other than objective knowledge; they wanted to gush and daydream about Lockhart acting the dashing hero he portrayed. Wizards were just as bad, though without the hormonally driven lust towards the man. Harry chalked that up to general laziness and stupidity. Women though… Harry sighed, women were a strange creature, even the smartest of them could act weird for no discernible reason at all.

_12th of July:_

Almost two weeks had passed after Harry and the Grangers started their holiday in France. It had been a long ten days for Harry after getting the bloody books from Lockhart. Thankfully for his self appointed goal, the events that took place in the shop had damaged his friends mental picture of Lockhart, so he struck while the iron was hot. He worked well into the night on his evidence, knowing the girls would demand it.

It went surprisingly well, all things considered, Hermione was quickly swayed by his argument and facts, but Melody, the one who basically preached critical thinking, was a tougher nut to crack. It took Emma having a quiet talk with her daughter before the girl relented and give Harry's evidence a more detailed look, instead of dismissing it.

A day later things were back to normal, both girls preferring to put the whole embarrassing ordeal behind them, Melody in particular, and move on. The day started off normal as the family and guest ate breakfast, after which Emma explained to her daughters and Harry that they had six hours before they got to The Grande Cosse. She went on to explain they could do what they did the day before and do some more sightseeing, and stop off at another hotel for the night before finishing their trip the next day, or they could carry on to The Grande Cosse and have a few smalls stops to get food and drink and get to The Grande Cosse by that night, but it was up to them to decide. After some thought, the kids decided to carry on to The Grande Cosse and have a few smalls stops along the way. As unlikely as it was to happen the children just wanted to take a break from the Magical world so nothing like what happened in _Rue de Lumière_ would take place again.

The trip was quick and uneventful, at least on the surface. Harry noticed his voice giving out and squeaking at odd times, which Dan referred to as 'cracking' once when he teased Harry about it and, much to his own embarrassment, he began thinking about Hermione and Melody in ways more advanced than their current relationship level. The girls were his friends, and that was how he thought of them, just hanging out and reading comics or books together, or just lazing about and talking about whatever crossed their minds. Now, though, he thought about that as well as hugging and snuggling with them, even kissing once the group reached camp and began enjoying the beach. His thoughts were not focused on just Hermione and Melody though; he also daydreamed about Emma and, surprisingly, Lucy too. His imaginary twin began featuring in these fantasies when he tried to stop thinking about the Granger women due to getting flustered around them.

Any self control he managed to wrestle down was completely blown away when they got settled in and the clothing optional part of the trip came into play. Harry himself had kept shorts on. He thought he would have been fine, having a far better self body image than most, but he was having a problem that kept cropping up that made going naked unfeasible. It was a normal problem for a young man, developing erections at basically anything that was attractive to his interests, in Harry's case women, but he had never learned anything about that; in truth to Harry it was just bothersome, uncomfortable, and embarrassing; he was unaware why it kept happening. He could make a pretty good guesses because it mostly happened when he caught sight of a naked female Granger, or one of the other incredibly attractive women that roamed the beach.

Emma Granger would have been more than happy to give her eldest daughter's first friend The Talk if she knew he needed to be given one, but it had not occurred to her until she really settled in and started paying closer attention to those around her, instead of only basking in the experience.

It was the second Sunday at the camp and Dan had taken his daughters out for the day, father and daughter bonding as he called it - so it left Emma and Harry alone at the camp. Harry was sitting by the pool relaxing when Emma decided to make her move. She walked over and sat next to him, her course of action was justified when she saw Harry's eyes glance down at her breasts as they bounced from her motion before looking back up to meet her gaze, his cheeks slightly pink. "Since Dan, and the girls are out for the day, I would like a word with you if you don't mind."

"No, I don't mind." Harry responded.

"Can we go to our cabin? This is something private I want to talk you about." She requested.

"Sure, Emma." He answered as he stood up and offered Emma a hand, which she took, before the two walked back to their cabin.

As they got to their cabin, Emma made sure that the doors were locked before she and Harry took a seat on the couch. "Is everything alright Harry? It's been over a week since we got to the camp, and I thought by now you would have lost your shorts. I know some people sometimes keep them on for their whole stay, although most of the time people lose their clothes in a few days, but you didn't seem to mind the idea when we were back home. Is everything alright?"

Harry was embarrassed, but he realized this was his opportunity to get some answers so he took hold of the situation as best as his nerves would allow. "Well you see Emma I've got a problem, lately, well…" He stumbled, too embarrassed to continue.

But Emma seemed to realize what was wrong, as she said with a smile, "You've been having a problem with your penis haven't you? It keeps getting hard on you."

Harry turned red at this, but nodded quickly enough, "Yes, it has, and I don't know why." He answered, his annoyance at not knowing overcoming his hesitation.

Emma was shocked. She knew that his aunt and uncle were not the best of people, much less family, but she would have thought that they would have given Harry the The Talk by now, if only so he would avoid doing anything without knowing the full details of what he was doing. If not them, she assumed his old school would have had Sex Ed by the time he left for Hogwarts. She was aware not all schools had the class that early, but never considered it until now, only making assumptions.

She decided to get down to business though and obtain some facts. "Harry, have your aunt and uncle given you The Talk about the birds and the bees, or where babies come from? Or did you attend a class called Sex Ed while in school?"

"My aunt and uncle told me that a freak like me shouldn't have babies, and so I shouldn't know where they come from." Harry replied simply, his tone distant. He would have preferred to never think about the vile people again, but it was an unavoidable subject at times, this apparently being one of them. Unnoticed by him Emma was suppressing the growing rage she felt at the Dursley's for their treatment of the nice young man before her. She listened as Harry went on to say, "They said as long as I didn't know, I wouldn't be able to bring new freaks into the world. As far as I know my school didn't have a class called Sex Ed, would it have helped?"

Emma felt a bit embarrassed, she never thought that she would have to give The Talk to a boy who very well might use what she was telling him on one of her daughters one day. With a sigh she said, "Harry you might have noticed your body has started to change," Harry nodded shyly, he did notice a few changes, "One being your voice, and your penis - also referred to as a cock, or dick, most commonly but there are dozens of words people use - will get hard. This is called an erection. This is a perfectly natural reaction to seeing a lady you think is attractive because you're going through puberty; the reason for these changes. This means not only will your hormones play up, meaning you'll feel things that you didn't before, like thinking of girls more often, but your body will react to these thoughts as well."

"How can I deal with my erection? It's really embarrassing having it hard all the time." A red faced Harry inquired. Emma glanced down at the prominent tent in his shorts briefly. She was actually rather flattered in his interest in her; Harry was growing into quite the handsome young man and his interest in her made her feel sexy.

Emma sighed, there was so much that Harry missed out on, a father to help him in this kind of thing, a normal childhood where he could learn things like this from his family and many other things that she was grateful that her own children had. It took everything that she had not to head back to England now and give the Dursleys a piece of her mind. "Harry do you know what masturbation is?" Emma asked. She could guess the answer, confirmed when Harry blinked cluelessly, but she needed to ask anyway. Yet again she sighed, wanting nothing more than to exact some righteous fury.

"Harry, masturbation is a way to relieve yourself, making it so your penis will go soft again." Emma explained, hiding her red face behind her hair slightly, struggling to believe she was explaining this to Harry. "Both men and women masturbate." She claimed, but upon seeing Harry's confused look, Emma could have hit herself. He had no context to work with, her speech was really disorganized because she wanted to get to his problems quicker and had pushed other things to the wayside. "Women get a different kind of erection, and relieve themselves through a different way of masturbating, but that's not really the issue. For men it's very simple, all they need to do is put their hand around their cock, and start to pump it until they reach their orgasm. When a man reaches orgasm semen spurts out, but you may not be old enough for that to happen yet."

Harry felt somewhat stupid right now, although Emma explained it to him well enough he was still drawing a blank as to how to do it, the embarrassment clouding his mind. This was just too far out of his element. "Emma, could you… show me what to do?" He asked hesitantly with a bit of desperation in his voice, his face feeling warmer by the second.

Emma Granger hesitated; she was a happily married women. Sure, there were a few problems after a nasty accident Dan had been involved in shortly after Mel had been born that limited his abilities in the bedroom, but she was still satisfied by what he could do. Still, once she heard the desperation in Harry's voice, she could not seem to be able to think of a reason that a short demonstration would be too bad, as long as she laid some ground rules. "I'll quickly show what to do, _if_ you promise you won't tell Dan or the girls about it."

Harry fervently nodded. "I won't." He promised since he did not want to get her into any trouble or anything like that.

"Okay, pull your shorts down." She ordered.

Harry complied, sliding the waistband of his pants down to his knees, momentarily lifting himself off the couch to accomplish it, his erection springing free of his shorts the second it was able.

As Harry did this Emma eyed his cock in surprise. Dan was bigger, obviously, but her husband was also a full grown man; Harry was relatively close and he was only an eleven - nearly twelve years old boy. If Harry and one of her daughters really did get together, they would be in for a very happy life in the bedroom.

She sat herself down next to Harry on his right side, putting her left hand around his shoulders. She felt him jump when she suddenly wrapped her hand around the base of his length and start stroking slowly, already feeling mildly guilty, not remembering why she agreed to help him with this. "Whenever you get hard just go somewhere private and do this. Make sure not to grip yourself too hard or stroke yourself too fast, or you could hurt yourself."

Harry bit his lip to suppress the foreign sound that wanted to be released as Emma sped up slightly as she spoke, only to fail when she released him and stood up quickly.

"That should do it, now you know what to do. Oh, and remember you should never start masturbating and then stop in the middle. If you do so you'll get something most men call blue balls, which, while isn't dangerous, is very painful. I'm going back out to the pool, you should finish up in your room before the others get home, okay?" Emma said hurriedly as she left. She didn't want to give him the wrong impression, but she had gone far above and beyond what she should have done. She could have sat him down and explained things from start to finish, but she talked herself into a corner. She reminded herself to talk to him again in the future and really explain things in a more linear fashion.

Harry watched her go, feeling a mix of emotions. He, being a boy in the throes of puberty, was able to easily ignore these feelings and pull his shorts back up before venturing to his room. Repeating what Emma had done was easy enough, and he felt foolish by being confused about the mechanics before. In retrospect it was obvious, but his embarrassment, mixed with a naked Emma, kept him from being able to connect the dots.

He was both satisfied and unsatisfied by his first masturbatory experience. The former was easy to explain, since experiencing orgasm had made him go soft and felt incredibly good. The latter was because his own hand felt nowhere near as good as Emma's, and he was sure his orgasm would have been stronger, and felt better, if she had been the one to finish him off. Still, that was a minor complaint since she gave him the answer he needed to solve his problem.

_16th of July:_

A few days after Emma showed Harry how to masturbate, he quickly discovered how difficult it was to excuse himself to tug one out like Emma had suggested. That only worked for about fifteen minutes, at the absolute and rare most, before Hermione or Melody would come searching for him . He was up to three times a day before he finally settled down.

It was strange, he thought he would only feel the urge to masturbate once a day, not three. Despite this odd development, he was still feeling confident he could prevent sprouting an erection at the drop of a hat as long as he satisfied himself before he went out. He started forgoing his shorts, which had caused both Granger daughters to blush a solid red when they saw him fully naked for the first time. Even Emma gave him a second glance once or twice. It was strangely ego boosting for the last Potter.

He was laying on the beach sunbathing when a six year old naked girl ran towards him, shouting out in France, "Maman, Maman, c'est Harry Potter." (Mummy, Mummy, it's Harry Potter)

"Gabrielle, reviens ici!" (Gabrielle, get back here!) The woman called, who Harry assumed was the girl's mother. This was confirmed when the mother turned to him and said in a French accent, "I'm Apolline Delacour, please forgive me monsieur, my daughter zinks you're someone else."

"Maman, c'est Harry Potter, le Garçon-Qui-A-Survécu…" The girl named Gabrielle insisted. (Mummy, it's Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived…)

Harry smirked minutely since, after being school let out, Emma and Hermione had been teaching him French at a furious pace enabling him to keep up with the mother and daughter with a little difficulty. Melody already knew French, but was learning German with Dan, as they wanted to learn a third language whilst the others did not want to bother. His tiny self satisfied smirk disappeared when he felt his cock rapidly swelling. The problem was his eyes had barely glanced at the mother, meaning he was growing aroused from a six year old with his body desiring to do things to her that he did not understand with no reasonable explanation as to why. If it was the mother he would understand, she was an incredibly beautiful woman, but not the girl.

He tried to ignore the feeling he was getting and focused back on the pair, but failed to direct his attention back in time to hear and mentally translate what the girl said, but he did hear enough to know it was something about magic and was likely breaking the Statute. If them knowing about the whole Boy-Who-Lived thing had not been an indicator, Gabrielle's comment would have been. "Gabrielle Delacour, se comportent-vous." Apolline reprimanded the girl. (Gabrielle Delacour, behave yourself.)

"Don't worry about it." Harry said in English, not feeling confident enough in his linguistic skills to reply in their native tongue for fear of mangling it. That and he was having too much trouble focusing to try to speak in his second, partially learned language and suppress the arousal he was feeling in greater and greater waves for unknown reasons at the same time; he was already clearly failing to hide the evidence. "I am actually Harry Potter, but if you don't mind please keep that information a secret. I'm on vacation with a friend and her family and I don't want them bothered by people wanting to talk to me." Harry requested as he put his shorts on, playing it off like he only had them off to tan, which was a fairly common habit on the beach for those who wore clothes.

The woman saw through his actions though and cut straight to the chase, "She's affecting you, isn't she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Harry insisted awkwardly.

"Don't feel ashamed or guilty Monsieur Potter." The mother said, shocking Harry, "She's a Veela and 'asn't learned 'ow to control 'er powers fully. I was trying to keep 'er away from the public, but she ran off." She turned to her daughter and noticed the girls expression, like she was focusing on something with all of her concentration. Following her gaze it was plain to see the affect she was having on the Potter boy was getting worse. Apolline Delacour had to admit though, the boy was holding up incredibly well. Gabrielle's Allure was the strongest Apolline had seen or heard of in decades, and it looked like her daughter was focusing every bit of it solely on him. She was shocked the boy could even think still, most other males would have either turned to metaphorical goo or jumped Gabrielle by now, six years old or not.

She was tempted to let this go on, if only so Gabrielle could see what happened when you pushed a male too far - and the young Potter certainly looked to be losing the battle with his self control - but she would have to settle for grounding her and giving her a stern talking to when they got home.

"Gabrielle, you will stop zis instant." Apolline snapped, using a tone unique to mothers, used to get their children to obey them. "Zat was a very mean zing to do to Monsieur Potter. Apologize zis instant, and you can bet you'll be getting a spanking for zis when we get 'ome!"

Harry shifted uncomfortably as his hard-on twitched at the mental image that assaulted his brain, something Apolline noticed and realized she probably should have left at least the punishment unsaid while he was still being hit full force by Gabrielle's Allure. "I can see you wish to leave Monsieur Potter, and we must do the same. Despite my daughter's rude behaviour, it was nice meeting you. You should try and find a book on Veela when you get back to 'Ogwarts, zat will explain what 'appened to you. I bid you good day."

Harry nodded, not trusting his voice to do anything but crack loudly if he tried to speak and all but sprinted back to the cabin as soon as the elder Delacour frog marched her daughter back towards wherever their beach gear was set up, Gabrielle complaining all the way about being so close. Harry almost slapped himself in the face when his eyes were glued to Gabrielle's rear end as she was dragged away. He really needed to get back to the cabin…

_**o0OoO0o**_

It was a short walk to get back to the cabin and when he got there he saw that the Grangers were about to leave. When they saw him Dan took the initiative and asked, "You alright Harry? You seem a bit dazed."

"I'm fine, just spent a little too long in the sun I think. I think I'll stay inside for a bit." Harry explained to them. It was by no means a complete lie, but at the same time nothing close to the full truth either.

"Good lad, if your body tells you something you shouldn't ignore it. You could seriously injure yourself if you don't." Dan answered sagely, "We'll be down at the beach if you need us." A minute or two of "I hope you're feeling better soon's" from the female Grangers and they all left, leaving Harry alone.

Waiting for a few minutes to make sure the Grangers were definitely gone and not returning to grab something forgotten, Harry quickly scampered to his room and securely closed the door. Stationing himself on the bed he ripped his shorts down and took his still hard prick in hand. Despite Emma's warnings, he could not stop his hand from pumping as fast as he could make it, images of Hermione, Melody, Emma, Apolline, Lucy, and, most embarrassing of all, little Gabrielle, flitted through his head as he rapidly approached his first orgasm.

Roughly forty five minutes later Harry fell back onto his bed breathing heavily. Five times. Whatever Gabrielle had done had forced him to masturbate five times just to get back to a point where he could focus again.

Harry decided to get his mind off the little blond girl and whatever a Veela was, so he fell back on his stand-by project; improving his pyrokinetic abilities. Before they left for France he started trying to copy a skill from a cartoon called The Fantastic Four, where a character nicknamed the Human Torch, real name Johnny Storm, could also control fire in various ways. Johnny's abilities were different than his own, or at least he used them differently, but that was what Harry wanted to fix. Johnny could cover his body in fire and fly, propelling his own body. Harry wished to copy this feat, but had achieved little success. He could encase his arm up to the elbow in fire, but much further seemed to be extremely difficult if not outright beyond his capabilities at the moment. Despite the slow going progress, Harry refused to give up just yet. While he had no qualms about not being able to relax and have a vacation like a normal person, he did hate that it was impossible for him to relax and train at the same time. It was a non-magical beach, so he still needed to follow the restrictions set in place by the Statute.

Before he could try and think of an area to train in that was both not flammable (ruling out the cabin) and away from Muggles, ruling out a good 95% of the area, he heard someone come in. He turned towards his door, only for it to swing open. "Hi Mel." Harry greeted, a bit uncomfortable. While partially accustomed to being naked around the Grangers, his libido was still through the roof and the last thing he needed was to get an eyeful of one of his closest friends who happened to be a very cute girl. He tried to ignore it. "So what are you doing here, I thought you wouldn't be back for a while?"

"I came to see if you're alright. I, I mean we were worried, you seemed really distracted earlier. So are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just… restless." Harry explained to his friend and Apprentice. "So I thought I would find somewhere to train."

"Can I come with you, Master?" Melody requested as she slipped into her Apprentice persona. "Being around so much water's made me feel antsy, a good venting sounds perfect."

Before Harry could respond his lower bits decided for him. The second Melody called him 'Master' his cock sprang up, twitching needily like it would if he neglected masturbaing for weeks. Or he assumed at least, since Emma's introducing it to him happened only a week prior. "I'll, uh, be right back." Harry muttered awkwardly as he turned, prepared to march into his bathroom and jerk himself off yet again.

"I can take care of that for you." Melody blurted mindlessly, cutting off his retreat, only for her eyes to shoot open and her face to turn a burning scarlet. _'DID I JUST SAY THAT OUT LOUD?!'_ She screamed in her head.

Harry was shocked as he heard that, but at the same time his cock grew even harder at the thought. Melody's face reddened even more as she heard her friend and Master say, "Do you know how to?"

"Y-Yes I do." said Melody, "My mother explained it to us when we asked about different kinds of sexual acts." Harry looked shocked Emma would go into such detail when his own Talk was pretty sparse, "My parent don't like the idea of us knowing such things at such a young age, but they believe that being forewarned is forearmed. We've always been very curious girls though, so I don't think we gave them a choice about it either…" Melody admitted.

Harry was suddenly very grateful the Grangers were such intelligent people. Melody knowing what to do and being fully willing to help was possibly exactly what he needed. It was pretty obvious taking matters into his own hands was largely pointless considering how ineffective it was. "If you know what you're doing, I won't stop you from helping me." Part of him suspected it was a bluff that he had just called her on.

_**Lime Begins: Skip if you're underage or not into this kind of thing!**_

That part was promptly proven dead wrong as Melody knelt in front of him and as she got a closer look at his cock.

"Wow Master, you're almost the same size as Daddy and you're not even an adult." She said in awe, smirking when she saw his cock twitch at her calling him Master. Seeing that he was letting her do what she wanted, she began to stroke his cock. As she did so, she realized this was much better than using bananas to learn on.

As she stroked her Master's cock she felt it jump a few times in her hand. Harry felt a pleased grin form on his face, "Ahh, that feels wonderful." He moaned.

"I'm just warming up, my Master." Melody said as she continued to stroke his cock.

After a few moments, she saw what she believed to be pre-cum. Seeing it start to leak from the slit and drool down his shaft she put her head near his cock and began to lick it. It was a bit salty, the unique flavour a new experience to her, but all in all she liked it. When all the pre-cum had been licked clean she decided to continue licking his cock as she mused about the differences between practice and application.

The real thing was almost nothing like doing it on a banana; it was much better. Before long she thought to try another new experience and dipped her head down, taking several inches of his cock into her mouth and began to bob her head up and down.

Harry groaned throatily as Melody started inhaling his shaft. It felt wonderful, like nothing he had ever experienced before. Feeling Melody sucking on him spurred on his imagination, picturing Hermione, Emma, his female friends from school, Apolline and even Gabrielle in Melody's position. Before he could think about what he was doing, his hands laid themselves atop her head and began to guide her up and down at a pace twice as fast as the one she set for herself.

Because of his age, it only took Harry a few minutes before he came into Melody's mouth without warning. Melody gagged at the sudden rapid fire spurts, but began swallowing as much as she could. Normally a girl would pull out to breathe, but Melody wanted to take every bit of her Master's cum that she could. A normal eleven year old would think it strange and wrong to call her friend Master, but for some reason she was okay with it. In fact, it made her aroused and happy. Up until now, the moniker was just something fun that they had between them, but now it was something more to her, she would have to think about it later.

_**Lime Ends: Read from here if you skipped the Lime!**_

A minute or two later once Harry stopped cumming and Melody felt he was sufficiently cleaned by her tongue, he pulled his dick out of her mouth, and for the first time since it all started Harry felt relieved and content, more so than after masturbating by himself. He needed to set some rules though; it may have been a pretty big turn on to have Melody call him Master, but he didn't want her to call him that all the time. He promised himself he would have a talk with her about it later.

As Harry pulled his cock from her mouth, Melody waddled back a few steps, still on her knees in front of him with a smile. "That was wonderful Master, it was a great first time. I'd love to do more, show you what I learned from mum. I know a lot and would love to show you what I can do." There was a lustful look in Melody's eyes as she ran her hand down her body and across her pussy.

Harry blushed at the thought, part of him wanted to take things further, but a bigger part, the part that thought with his brain and not his penis, said not to. Melody was the sister of his best friend Hermione, and the daughter of the Grangers, the people that took him in and even brought him along on his first ever holiday. He was feeling guilty for what happened, and felt as if a great disservice had been done to them. But, he hated the idea that Melody might feel unwanted, so he said, "Not right now Melody, we don't know when your sister and parents will be back. What do you think they would do if they saw us?"

As much as she hated to admit it, her Master was right. Her family would… well she did not know how they would react, but it would likely be poorly. With a sigh she said, "I understand Master, what do you want to do?"

"Well we should clean up and then we should find somewhere to train." Harry decided with an eager smile.

"Sure Master." Melody agreed as she got up and both of them went to the bathroom to clean up. About ten minutes later the two preteens were cleaned and heading out somewhere to train.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_1st of August:_

It'd been over two weeks since Harry and Melody had their fun, since then the friendship between the two of them changed. Harry did talk to Melody about her calling him Master like she did, or at least he tried to…

Whenever he tried to talk to her about it she would call him Master anyway and start licking and sucking on his cock.

The only way he could see getting through to her was talking to her about it in public, where it would be hard to blow him off and proceed to blow him. But that was incredibly unfeasible, and after a few tries he gave up. Not only because it seemed useless, but because he was starting to enjoy what she was doing to him and liked being called Master during their time together. So their training sessions usually ended with the preteens wrapped around each other once they were done. Melody would usually pounce on him and inhale him while Harry was steadily learning how to give cunninglingus after Melody had explained it to him when he asked how he could return the favour for what she was doing. Neither of them had brought up taking things further, as both were satisfied with how things were at the moment.

It reached outside their training sessions, too. Melody, like her sister, was an incredibly early riser, so more often than not Harry would wake up to Melody suckling on him. Harry had told her he was fine with her just shaking his shoulder to awaken him, but she insisted her way was better. Harry really couldn't argue with that kind of logic. His only real concern was that they would get caught, but his fears were forgotten each time Melody woke him up like that. He wasn't going to stop unless they had to.

Apart for the new sexual aspects of his life not much changed; Harry, Melody and Hermione would train in their magic - Hermione was shocked to find that that in France - apart from making sure no Muggles saw them doing magic - they did not have an Age Restriction when it came to performing magic. She quickly got over this shock and was soon performing magic casually, much to her parents amazement, and enjoyed learning new magic that being back in England would have prevented. They were even able to show the adult Grangers what they could do with their wands. The two older children were taken off guard by how impressed the Grangers were at the simplest of spells, but admitted to growing so accustomed to basic magic that novelty had worn off.

Talking about magic and training, over the last few weeks Harry and the girls started to do their Force training. From what they'd read, most of the Force Skills involved meditation to Master these skills. So with that in mind, with the help of Harry who already knew about the how to's, started to meditate. To help them more, and get better at it, Harry bought books on meditating.

So far their training had been less than productive. They had started off with the Mind Trick skill, since the sheer utility and usefulness of the skill was unfathomable. Sadly, at the moment, the skill appeared to work only for Harry and _only _when he was extremely nervous or agitated, and even then the best he could do were mild in effect. Having a man walk in on Melody sucking him off only to glance away as if there was nothing be seen made them aware it could be done, but duplicating the effect was stubbornly difficult.

They had also began working on deciphering the mechanics of the Shadow Clone Jutsu, whose benefits they had already discussed. The truth was though they had no idea where to even _begin _to replicate the technique. They hadn't attended the Ninja Academy, so they didn't know how to use ninja hand signs, and they didn't have chakra, though they were sure magic could work in it's place. So they just started from scratch; the three spent hours visualizing a second body trying to force their magic into the visualization. In the end though, their efforts amounted to little more than many hours spent meditating. Granted, they came away with their minds feeling much clearer and more relaxed. This led to Harry being able to have fire now encircle his arm half way up his biceps, a marked improvement from his earlier efforts.

When the trio needed a break from training or playing on the beach, they spent time with the adult Grangers. As Dan had commented, going to a foreign land and refusing to sightsee was a huge waste of potential fun, so that took up much of their time. They went on a drive looking for areas of interest, there was no set areas they wanted to go to, Dan said it was just fun driving to see what they could find. They did spent a weekend in Paris, and visited _Rue de Lumière _again, where they got some new robes so it would be one less thing to but when they got back to England. After some debate they also decided to pick up a rechargeable, reusable Portkey back to _Rue de Lumière_. Dan was against the idea because he wanted to drive back, enjoying the experience, but he folded quickly due to being so outnumbered, and because it was just more convenient.

August first quickly approached, and Harry could be found relaxing on a towel at the beach, catching some sun and hoping to get at least the start of a tan. Damn his English skin. He glanced around, amazed at how empty the beach was. He could only see a handful of people, all of whom were women taking naps or relaxing with a book while they tanned, the closest about fifty yards away from him. The place was basically deserted.

The Grangers were having lunch at some restaurant nearby. Harry had declined going, as he wanted to let the Grangers have some family time. He would never voice this of course, because they would deny the need for it and assure him he was not intruding. That was still how he felt though, so he was being a little sneaky about his desire to let them spend some time together. It was the rare occasion that he could completely let go and relax.

Harry musings ground to a halt as he felt a wave of arousal slam into him like a tidal wave. His cock was instantly standing straight, pulsing with blood, and his breath came in short, hot pants as he looked around wildly. It was the little French girl again, it had to be. The feeling was exactly the same as before, but even more intense.

He quickly spotted the silvery-blonde hair of Gabrielle Delacour. She made no attempt to hide, standing boldly right in the middle of the entrance to the changing area; a concrete structure built like a small spiral for those self conscious about taking their clothes off in front of everyone, as silly as that concept was considering where they were. Gabrielle sent him a mischievous smile and ducked inside the structure, her long hair flaring out as she turned on her heel, acting like a red flag to Harry's bull.

His mind fogged over and his hormones demanding he take action, he climbed to his feet. Harry almost drunkenly stumbled after the girl, his shorts left behind as he made his way towards the changing station, his erection leading the way. If the beach had been anything but deserted, he would likely get in trouble for this, but Harry was personally long past caring.

Once inside the concrete structure the seeming loss of higher brain function made itself aware as he stumbled and hit into the walls. He was making his way inside, but he scraped up his shoulders more than once before he finally reached the centre.

His prize was an incredibly eager looking Gabrielle Delacour, her hands placed against the wall in front of her, her legs spread and her back arched, her tiny pussy on full display.

Outside the structure Apolline Delacour sighed as she marched towards where she felt the Tracking Charms placed on a few of her daughter's hairs resonating from. She did this just in case Gabrielle tried to lose her again, like she did a few days ago. As she followed the Charm she cursed herself for not thinking things through; she knew it was a bad idea to give her daughter the Veela version of The Talk while Harry and the people he was vacationing with were still at the camp. She knew she should have waited until they left at least.

The girl had gotten it into her head she would give herself to her storybook hero and be together forever. Appoline partially agreed with the plan, at least in theory. Gabrielle was a Veela and if she felt that strongly for Harry it was probably meant to be. Plus the boy had already shown signs of heavy resistance to the Allure, which could one day evolve into a full immunity.

The problem was the plan was doomed to fail. Harry seemed to have the usual human hang-ups about sex, albeit not as strong as most from her observations of his expression and demeanour in their first meeting - he was confused and embarrassed, but mortification had been an incredibly distant third. Gabrielle knew this because Apolline had tried to talk the girl out of it, to tell her she should wait a few years before searching him out again, since the only way to get over these hangups at the moment was to throw so much of her Allure at him that he would be unable to think straight for long enough to remember what he was doing was 'immoral'. That level of power need to overcome Harry's high resistance was too much for even Gabrielle to create, and Apolline said as much to her daughter.

The woman really should have known better. Fleur would have been much easier to dissuade from such a foolish course. Apolline just wished Gabrielle would be a bit more like her older sister, because the next thing she knew her incredibly determined looking daughter was marching towards the beach.

One stealthy X-Ray Charm on the changing station keyed to herself and Apolline could see exactly what was happening inside. She was torn over what she saw, really. On one hand her daughter had actually managed it, and rightfully deserved her prize. On the other hand, the chance Harry, being an eleven year old boy, would see this as anything but pleasure with no strings attached was incredibly high, meaning heartache for Gabrielle.

She sighed and decided she needed to let things play out. Throwing up an Anti-Muggle Ward and a powerful Notice-Me-Not Ward in case any Magicals were around onto the changing station, combined with a Sound Proofing Charm to make sure no sound escaped, Apolline conjured a beach towel and laid down; no sense in letting this opportunity go to waste.

Back inside Gabrielle was encountering problems with her "fool-proof" plan. The height difference was making things complicated.

Emma had actually got around to finishing the birds and the bees talk with Harry, explaining everything in a more complete fashion. It was somewhat embarrassing for Harry, but by the end of it he knew full well what to do. So Harry no longer lacked the knowledge of how to have sex, it was just that in his current state he wanted pleasure _now_.

_**Lime Begins: Skip if you're underage or not into this kind of thing!**_

As it turned out, Harry was taller than Gabrielle by a good deal, something the young girl cursed her petite figure for. She had always been small, and because of it her pussy was not the closest orifice to his cock; her mouth was. Needless to say, Gabrielle fervently wished that she was taller.

Although Gabrielle wanted to be fucked like a real woman, Harry had other ideas. All he wanted right now was the pleasure and release, caring very little where it came from, or if it hurt his partner. So, grabbing the young girls hair he pulled her back and lined her up to fuck her mouth.

As he did this, Gabrielle's feelings were mixed as she felt Harry mindlessly grind his length against her cheek, moaning at the silky smooth skin before he pulled back and pushed the head against her lips insistently. Part of her wanted to feel the head of his penis pushing at her labia, but instead she found said penis at her mouth trying to enter it. She wished to change this, but Harry was several years older and a good deal physically stronger than her. Plus, the only weapon she had in this situation was exactly the reason he was so aroused. She could, of course, kick or strike him in some fashion, but she would never do that to her crush.

However, the young girl was denied any choice in the matter, when Harry felt the girl's lips part, most likely to speak, or lick his shaft, he shoved himself inside her mouth. Not enough to make the impulsive girl gag - knowing where that spot was from accidents with Melody - but his grip on her head and his fingers entangled in her hair were a pretty good indicator that his cock would not be going anywhere any time soon as Harry started to fuck Gabrielle's mouth.

Despite the situation being what most would consider unfavourable, Gabrielle did not offer any resistance. In fact, she did the opposite, shifting until she was in a better position for him to thrust into her mouth as she worked her tongue and lips, trying to bring as much pleasure as possible.

With the state Harry was in, he quickly reached release. Soon enough with a half-feral grunt he came, shoving his cock into Gabrielle's throat with no regard for her at all. His cock stiffened and thickened slightly before a flood of semen started pouring directly into the little blonde's stomach. A distant part of him was ecstatic at how great the blonde's mouth felt. She may have been young, but she seemed to be even better at what she was doing than Melody.

In truth the little Veela was just following her instincts, puttering her entire focus on making him feel good. It paid off, too, as Gabrielle moaned erotically, a sound no six year old should have any business making, made even more erotic as she still had a mouthful of Harry's manhood, muffling the sound. She felt her body tingle as she felt the magic within his seed start to course through her. A human girl would have been choking and gagging, but she was a Veela and could control her gag reflex. She still needed air, obviously, but it was a simple matter to suppress her body's desire to pull herself away from him until he was done.

Gabrielle did eventually pull back once Harry's orgasm had ended, her belly nice and warm, taking greedy, solid gulps of air for the first time in several minutes. She tried to reposition herself so she could finally give herself fully to her hero, but Harry only saw her moving, specifically her wonderful mouth moving somewhere that was not right back on his cock and reacted. She let out a yelp as the older boy tugged her hair once again, pulling her head back down onto his cock as he slipped back into her mouth, continuing his selfish thrusting pace like nothing happened.

Gabrielle pouted up at him, but continued to please him to the best of her abilities. Her mother had told her that getting her hopes up was simply waiting for disappointment, and that men tended to go limp after one orgasm, but Gabrielle had insisted her hero would be virile enough to keep going no matter what she did. Just went to show how much of a genius she was! She would have laughed triumphantly, but her throat was currently already in use.

The little Veela settled in for a wait. Harry would grow tired of her throat and want more soon enough, she would just need to wait until then.

_**Lime Ends: Read from here if you skipped the Lime!**_

Apolline raised an immaculate eyebrow as she lifted her head up and looked at the changing station. She had been sunbathing for almost an hour now, and neither of the two had left yet. Frankly she was wondering if the last Potter had cum and passed out from the strength of it, Gabrielle deciding to stay with him to take credit for it in person when he was himself. She knew that any normal mother would have rushed into the changing room and possibly beaten Harry bloody, but she was a Veela, and as such a mother and daughter of a Veela, so her way of doing things was obviously going to be different than a humans. Veela were a sexual race, ready for sex at an incredibly young age. Around six to seven years old, on average. Most dreaded when the Allure would kick in, since it was such a huge change and put the girls in danger. The Allure began at six to seven due to their race's history, but right now that was irrelevant. Orphaned Veela had little hope of being used as anything but toys once this kicked in, unlike those with families to protect them. Even Veela adopted by humans were at risk, even the most protective father would force himself on his adopted daughter if she was strong enough, or he susceptible enough.

She would have checked on them before, but she knew this was a private thing for the two of them and so she let them be. But now she was a bit worried, so she prepared to throw up another X-Ray Charm to see if everything was okay. It turned out to be unneeded as an exhausted looking Harry Potter quickly fled from the building, his flaccid penis visibly shiny as he hurriedly made his way over to his towel and shorts and threw on the latter before grabbing the former and retreating back to, Apolline assumed at least, his cabin.

Banishing her own supplies after checking to make sure the coast was clear the mother of two made her way towards the changing station. Her youngest met her halfway, the girl stumbling as she walked. Appoline was almost amused at the state of her daughter; her belly was visibly bloated and her lower face and chest were covered in cum and saliva.

"_**So full…" **_The girl moaned.

"_**So it went well then?"**_ Appoline asked her daughter with a raised eyebrow.

Gabrielle's cloudy eyes focused slightly as she pouted. _**"He was so forceful maman, he wouldn't let me get into position! He kept taking my mouth over and over! It's not fair!"**_ She exclaimed in minor frustration, not truly angry as she rubbed her belly happily.

Apolline laughed at her daughter's plight. She had to give her offspring credit, her plan had mostly worked, but needing to arouse him so far just to overcome his resistance resulted in him manhandling her before she could get control of things. _**"Learn from this, my little angel, not everything you want will go to plan. I'm sure your next plan will be successful. Unless you're going to give up?" **_She challenged with a small smile.

Gabrielle puffed out her dirty chest. _**"Never! I will keep trying again and again until we're together forever!"**_ She declared firmly, meaning every word.

Apolline was glad her daughter's words did not trigger a Magical Vow, but simply a physical show of her resolve; the result of making a decision and meaning it. Still, there was no telling if the two would meet again, so it was possible the promise to herself was harmless. She hoped that her daughter would forget about all this, but she knew that it was _very _unlikely. _'Well… at least Sebastian will have plenty of time to prepare his 'scary father' routine now that he knows who he's going to be using it on.'_ She thought to herself amused, as she knew that her daughter was far too proactive to fail, and would not stop until she was with Harry in some fashion, come hell or high water.

Rolling her eyes as her daughter started massaging the mess on her chest and mouth around, giggling like a human girl her age was supposed to act as she did so, Apolline used a Cleaning Charm to clear away the leftovers.

Gabrielle pouted mightily, her toy getting cleaned from her instantly. She was still enjoying that!

"_**Come along Gabrielle, you've had your fun, I'm sure you can ambush Monsieur Potter at a later date, but we need to get back to the manor."**_ She said as she grabbed her daughters hand and lead the unresisting girl away. She sighed as Gabrielle began chattering at a lightning fast speed, planning her next romantic meeting with her crush.

_**o0OoO0o**_

Only once Harry had returned to the cabin and slumped onto his bed did he finally relax and allow himself to calm down and think. What happened was not illegal, in the strictest sense, and now that he was thinking clearly he could very plainly see the girl, Gabrielle, had planned what happened to him, or at at least partially. He had no idea why this was. He could understand it if she was older, he could guess she was a "Boy-Who-Lived" fangirl, but what sort of _six year old_, no matter their race, decided to throw themselves at him like that?

He really needed to get back to Hogwarts and its incredibly useful library, or hopefully get a book from _Rue de Lumière _that could explain about Veela.

Potential guilt and mental blue screen averted, Harry made the decision to just avoid Gabrielle in the future. He also wished to avoid whatever it is Gabrielle had done to him. He disliked not being in control of himself. Not to mention he could accidentally force himself on Hermione, Mel, or Emma if he was in such a state and not care until it was over and done with. There was no way he could tell anyone; he knew he would take the blame for the whole thing anyway.

Still, despite the… odd events that were happening, Harry was sad to note that the vacation was coming to an end.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_1st of September:_

A month later, Mel, Hermione and Harry were at the Grangers waiting to leave for the Kings Cross Station. The last month had been a slow one. The trio trained to fill some their time - Harry and Melody doing some 'special' training just like they had been before - but they mostly just relaxed at the camp and beach, sightseeing occasionally. Gabrielle had reappeared a number of times, but whatever the girl did before seemed to affect him less now. He was driven up the wall with arousal, something Melody could attest to, but he stayed in control unlike before whenever Gabrielle appeared. With whatever she did to him having less effect on him now, she never had a chance to be as forward as before. She became nothing more than a reappearing annoyance at worst and a useful tool for Melody because it all but forced Harry to seek her out for relief at best.

They did go to _Rue de Lumière _a few more times using the Portkey, which Harry insisted on charging due to the magic required, and during one of those times Harry tried to look for books on Veela. Unfortunately, there were no books that were solely focused on Veela. A number of books touched on the subject, but all Harry could find out was that the Veela had been in isolation for centuries, possibly millennia but nobody really knew, before revealing themselves a relatively short time ago.

They returned to England on the 23rd of August. A day after they returned they got their Hogwarts Letter, it was a few days later before they went to Diagon Alley, as they first arranged to meet up with Harry and Hermione's friends so they could go school shopping together.

When they meet up introductions were made for Melody before they talked about the summer, the main subject being Gilderoy Lockhart. The boys laughed at what Harry did to him while the girls, apart from Hermione and Melody, looked disapprovingly at him. That is, until they heard about what Harry found out about Lockhart. Then the girls were shocked and horrified, vowing to keep an eye on the man. Hermione and Melody backing Harry up helped a great deal in the girls believing him, and Harry made sure to thank them discreetly.

The Weasley Twins recalled their own meeting with the blonde celebrity and claimed the man _did_ seem a bit cautious of people touching him, even jumping a few times when his hand was suddenly grabbed for a handshake. They also delighted in re-enacting the fight their father had with Malfoy Senior, complete with exaggerated characteristics and a slapstick filled fight.

After the meeting Harry and Hermione's friends, the three had a worry-free week, spent having fun in the pool and relaxing. Before they knew it, it was the morning of the 1st of September, where they all got up early to get ready for Hogwarts.

_**TO BE CONTINUED!**_

_**Authors Note:**_ Here's the next chapter of Vulcan, I thank you for reading and I hope that you keep on reading and enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing this. Please let me know what you think of the story, as I would like to know what you think of it…

Once again you'll notice the reference of another show that wasn't out in 1992, as far as I can tell, this time it's Naruto. This is so I can use some of their powers for this story.

If the locations in French dialogue be wrong incorrect, blame the site that I used for it: .

I keep meaning to say, I'm thinking about having Harry have the Animagus form of a Dire Wolf, let me know what you think. I would also like to ask for ideas for Animagus Forms for the rest of the Outcasts apart from Mel, Hermione, Cho and Su Li, as they have their own forms already, or will have them at some point in a set future event, respectively.


	7. Chapter 7 - Return to Hogwarts!

_**Warning: **__Underage Lime._

_**Chapter 7**_

_1st of September:_

Reaching the station at a quarter to ten they were shocked to find that the portal to Platform 9¾ refused to let them through. "Any ideas what's going on?" Harry asked as he looked around to make sure no one was looking at them, he wasn't expecting an answer.

However, Hermione did have an answer, as she said, "I've read in _Hogwarts: A History_, that the portal to Platform 9¾ has occasionally malfunctioned in the past."

"Is there a way to get onto the platform?" Emma asked her oldest daughter.

"From what I read there's always an active Floo Connection nearby, just in case." Hermione explained as the others followed her to the waiting room. But as they were about to step inside Hermione stopped and said, "I'm afraid this is as far as Mum and Dad can go; there're Anti-Muggle Wards around the Floo Connection so Muggles won't find it. We'll see you see you at Christmas." Hermione said her goodbyes quickly, not meaning to be rude but they were already running late and the portal closing was making her antsy. She hugged her parents and Flooed to Platform 9¾, followed by Melody, who did so at a much more sedate pace.

Once they were through, Harry said his goodbyes too. Emma surprised him with a sudden hug and a warm smile. "Don't think that wasn't meant for you too, you're officially invited to stay at the Granger residence for Christmas."

"Thanks Emma, as long as nothing comes up I'll be happy to come." Harry said with a happy smile. He liked the Grangers, they treated him well and he was really glad they'd invited him back.

"That's good to hear, and please look after our girls." Emma requested.

Harry shook his head with a fond look, "I hope you mean that rhetorically; you don't even need to ask." He said over his shoulder as he slipped through the Floo.

The remaining Grangers turned around and both grabbed each other's hand at the same time, exchanging a loving look as they revelled in the feeling of knowing their daughters would be looked after by someone they trusted. They were almost bowled over a second later as a frenzied looking ginger boy ran past them. They tried to follow him with their eyes, but they did not seem to be able to. It turned out to be unneeded though as they heard the meaty thump of a body slamming into a wall and could guess what had happened.

The two walked away, unaware that adolescent wizard did not know about the emergency Floo and would end up stealing his dad's flying car and flying to Hogwarts, breaking the Statute at least a dozen times in the process.

_**o0OoO0o**_

Once the three of them got through to Platform 9¾ they went in search of Harry and Hermione's friends, and if not at least empty compartment. With luck, they found Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott and Su Li in a compartment a few cars from where they entered the train.

Su nodded to them before getting back to her book, but Susan was the first to speak. "Hi guys!" She greeted with a wide smile, "How are you three?"

"We're not too bad." Harry replied, summing up all three of their opinions. "So where are the others?"

"They're visiting their friends and they said they would meet us later." Hannah answered just as they felt the train move begin to move.

As Harry and the girls sat down, Hermione and Melody sitting on either side of Harry, Susan asked, "So Mel, I think we forgot to ask when we met up before but what do you think of the Wizarding World so far?"

"It's not too bad from what I've seen so far. Although, I think Mages-" Seeing the confused looks on the faces of everyone except Harry and her sister, she realized they did not know what she was talking about. "Mages are what I call Wizards and Witches. Anyway, they could be more up to date with the Muggle, or as I call it, Mundane, World. Both worlds have things they're better at, and it seems kind of silly to completely disregard the advances Mundanes have made in entertainment, technology and even medicine, just because Mages don't want to put the effort into researching them."

The three Witches had families that had close ties to the Muggle World, so they knew what she was talking about. "Why Mundane?" Su asked, speaking for the first time.

"Well, you three might have been brought up with these titles all your lives but I find them somewhat insulting." Melody revealed. Since the three girls looked thoughtful, she pressed forward. "Harry and my sister agree with me, though they didn't say anything about this before because neither of them thought about it until I talked to them about it this holiday."

Hermione send her sister a grateful look. Hermione herself _had _realized how insulting the name could sound but had not been in any kind of situation to go against the current, so to speak, without immediately being labelled an outcast.

Before Melody could ask the magical raised occupants of the compartment their opinion on the matter the compartment door opened and Malfoy and his two goons walked in, "Well lads, look what we have here, Scarhead, a couple of Half-Blood sluts, a Blood Traitor, and a Mudblood." Draco said with a sneer. The insult instantly angered the group, those not magically raised having learned what "Mudblood" meant when they met up with Harry and Hermione's friends, and warned Melody what to expect. "Bones, I thought even as a Blood Traitor, you would think more of yourself than to be around these kind of people." He stopped when he saw Melody and suddenly smirked. "Oh, what we have here, another whore for Potter?"

"Leave my sister alone." Hermione snapped.

"Another Mudblood, Hogwarts really is going to the dogs." Draco scoffed, ignoring the bushy haired girl.

Susan, Hannah, Hermione and Su were glaring at the youngest Malfoy while Harry appeared far calmer, at least on the surface. Under the calm facade he felt a sudden and intense urge to kill Draco, but resisted since the last thing he needed was to be arrested for homicide.

"I think I prefer Newblood, actually." Melody mused thoughtfully aloud.

"New what, Mudblood?" Malfoy asked with a sneer.

"Newblood, you albino git." Melody said back calmly, not rising to the bait. "My sister and I are the first generation of magic users in the Granger family. If you can take pride in your old bloodlines and get a fancy title for it I think we should be able to do the same - at least my title is less insulting. I take pride in being the first Mage in my family. It's odd though, you take such pride in being 'pure' but I'll bet if you looked back a few centuries in your 'noble' family line you would just another group of peasants, Mudbloods if you prefer, just like everybody else."

Malfoy turned crimson as he pulled his wand out while the others, apart from Harry who pulled his own wand out at Malfoy, looked at Melody in shock. No one, not even the most avid Muggle supporters and Anti-Malfoy factions had ever told the Malfoys their family came from Mudbloods. "H-how dare you, you'll regret this! I'll-" Malfoy sputtered indignantly, only to get cut off.

"You'll do nothing, Malfoy." Harry interrupted with fire in his eyes. He had made a promise, and Malfoy was trying to hurt one of the people Harry was protecting, albeit only emotionally, since Malfoy was too cowardly to hurt anything physically. Thoughts from deep inside the recesses of Harry's mind, where his darker thoughts resided, the ones that he ignored, told him that he was Melody's Master, and as such no one apart for him should be allowed to hurt her. "Now leave before you and your goons get hurt. Unless you've been stricken blind since we last met, there are only three of you and six of us, if you even count those brainless lumps, who I know have a hard time casting magic and are only good for brute force. By my count each one of us is worth at least twelve of you. The math isn't looking good for you." He finished with a cocky smirk, knowing it would get under Draco's skin.

As much as Draco hated to admit it, Potter was right, he was out manned and out powered, should something happen it would not go his way. So, for once, he used his Slytherin side; when things are not going your way, retreat, regather and plan again so the next time it _does _go your way. Before turning to leave, Draco sneered as he said, "You should watch out Potter, it's not going to be the same as last year… you and your Mudblood Whores won't be safe."

"Whatever Malfoy," Harry said dismissively, as Malfoy left the compartment.

"Why are you so dismissive toward him Harry?" Melody wondered.

"As much as he would like to make it out that he's all powerful and someone nobody messes with, he's all talk," Harry said dryly, with the others nodding in agreement, even Hermione. "Whenever something doesn't go his way, he goes to Snape, or says 'Wait until I tell my father,' or 'My father will hear of this,' he never acts. He's all bark." Harry explained before he took one of his books from his bag. "Forget about him, lets relax and have some fun, we don't need to worry about that waste of time."

Apparently, Harry relaxed and pulled out a book just in time because the girls took his words as cue to start girl talk amongst themselves.

_**o0OoO0o**_

While Draco made his usual visit to Harry's compartment, in another compartment several doors down three friends - Daphne Greengrass, Blaise Zabini and Tracey Davis - were talking about Harry.

"Are you sure about this?" Blaise asked. He was a tall boy for his age, he was dark-skinned young man with high cheekbones and long, slanting eyes that put a chill in the air, almost covered by his black hair. He was from an Italian family, evident is his very faint accent. "We're already outcasts in Slytherin for not bowing down to Malfoy or following him in some fashion, but doing as you say and publicly siding with him will make us even even more so than we are now, and some of the… aggressive factions of the school will make our lives hell. The Weasley twins don't pull any punches when it comes to Draco 'My Father' Malfoy and his cronies and they might see us as such."

"I have to agree with Blaise, Daph." Tracey supported. She was a girl with shoulder brown shoulder length hair, soft sky blue eyes, blemish free tan skin, and supple lips. She was a beautiful girl, but compared to her two friends she felt ordinary at times. "If we do this, we'll always have to look over our shoulder, more so than usual."

"I know that, but we need his help, especially you two." Daphne sighed, she had blonde hair that went over her shoulder and light green eyes. Her skin was silky, her lips soft and her curves were developing already and showed no signs of slowing down; in general she was stunningly beautiful, and would likely only grow more so. Many of the girls her own age, mostly in Slytherin since Daphne - and her two friends made themselves scarce when class was not in session - would kill for looks like hers. "Blaise and I have a good family name and money. But Blaise, for all that power, still gets beaten up for liking boys. He can barely handle himself, no offense, much less also protect you. If he didn't, he would be able to give you more protection. I can only do so much to help you, as my family name is the only thing stopping me from being a plaything to the Slytherins. With both of us having our own problems we can't spare the time to cover for you all the time, we need help."

"With how our world is right now, people like the Notts, Malfoys and the Parkinsons can do whatever to us and we can do nothing about it. So if we want to be protected, we need someone who's got a better family name than they do. That's where Potter comes in." Daphne sighed; she wished it was not the case but it was.

"But why Potter though?" Blaise wondered, "I'll give you that he's the Boy-Who-Lived, and the Potter Heir, which I would like to point out he doesn't wear his Heir Ring so might not even know about, but that's not enough for us to join his boat. Being a Potter alone won't help us, unless you know something that we don't, I say we're better by ourselves."

"I agree with Blaise, Daph," Tracey supported again, this time with a sigh. "Unless you know something we don't, we're better by ourselves."

"Do you think I would suggest this if I didn't have something planned, I'm a Slytherin after all," Daphne said a bit hurt that her friends didn't think she couldn't plan out something so simple. "Blaise, I think you're right when you guessed Potter is ignorant of his position, or should I say positions." Her friends raised an eyebrow at this revelation, "Yes, plural, more than one. Do you think I wouldn't do my research before deciding to side with Potter? He was raised by Muggles, if the stories are to be believed, so it's very possible he's unwillingly ignorant. Being raised by them he couldn't have known to ask about the Potter Heir Ring, let alone the other Rings."

Her friends nodded, picking up her train of thought as realizing it would explain a lot of Potter's actions.

"Anyway," Daphne continued, "From what I found out his father's mother was none other than Dorea Potter nee Black, from the main Black Family Line. So unless Sirius Black, Potter's Godfather, has a son soon, Potter will become the next Lord Black, not Malfoy like he keeps telling people. The way I see it, unless Black gets out of Azkaban, which is _very _unlikely, and has a son in the next few years - if the Dementor exposure didn't make him sterile after this long, as it's known to - Potter will become the next Lord Black. So, being Lord Potter AND Black, he'll have enough power to protect us from people like Malfoy completely." She saw her friends smile at this, the Potters and the Blacks were two of the most powerful families, going back to the Founders, not even Malfoy could say that.

When they looked at Daphne once again, they saw a smirk that said that she decided to save the best for last. "Okay, what's that smirk about?" Tracey demanded, "It's that damnable 'I know something you don't' look."

"You're right Trace." Daphne said with a smirk, "I looked more into Potter Family Line to see if there is anything else that could be useful." By 'useful' she actually meant 'anything that's beneficial for her in some way, and/or blackmail'. "Well it seems that Potter is related to one of the very first known wizards in England, the Peverells."

"_You're kidding!" _said Blaise and Tracey together in shock.

Their shock was understandable as the Peverell line was thought to be lost decades ago with the passing of the last known Peverell who, despite his long life, never had any heirs. At least none nobody knew about.

"No, I was shocked when I found out about this myself," Daphne admitted to her friends, "but as you can see, with all these titles no one would dare touch him and those under his protection. So you see, going to him is the wisest idea we have. As long as we can teach him what he needs to know, which isn't much of a price for the potential gain."

"Alright, I'll admit, I'm sold on this plan." Blaise said, raising his hands in surrender. "I just don't like the idea of going to a Gryffindor for help. So how are we going to confront Potter, after what Malfoy and the other Slytherins have done and said to him I don't think he'll be too trusting towards us."

"It will be hard, that much is clear." Daphne admitted sadly, "But I think we can do it. Like you said, he doesn't have his Heir Rings on, so I think we can get to him through that. We can tell him about it, and teach him the things he would need to get along in our world."

"So when are you planning to talk to him?" Tracey asked.

"I don't know Trace, I hope soon," Daphne stated.

Tracey clapped, as if to dispel the somber mood. "Well, as a last resort, we can always just ask to join that study group of his, though it seems a bit… pedestrian. That aside," She grinned mischievously. "Blaise, any hits on the old gaydar recently?"

Blaise smirked, "More than you'd expect. Shame the majority are Pureblood. I have standards!" He exclaimed with a haughty look and a sniff, eliciting giggles from his friends.

Topics were much less grim for the rest of the ride.

_**o0OoO0o**_

It was hours later when the Hogwarts Express reached Hogsmeade Station. During that time Harry's other friends stopped by the compartment to check in to greet them and talk for a bit, but none ended up staying. When they left the train it was cold and everyone wanted to get back into the warm, so Harry and his friends huddled together and followed the rest of the school along the platform and out onto a rough mud track, where at least a hundred stagecoaches awaited the remaining students, each pulled by - well if he had had to give them a name, he supposed he would have called them horses, though there was something reptilian about them, too. They were completely fleshless, their black coats clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads were dragonish, and their pupil-less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither - vast, black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats. Standing still and quiet in the gathering gloom, the creatures looked eerie and sinister - and yet Harry found them somewhat beautiful.

But as he looked around, most of the students had no reaction to them. Although it was cold, Harry pulled the group and he walked up to these strange creatures, and began to stroke them. "I thought the older students said these stagecoaches were horseless, so when did they get these beasts and when did they get them. And what are they, for that matter?" Hermione nodded in agreement, wondering all this herself. Su and Susan seemed to know what they were, but were not fully sure about it.

Su look at Susan and said/asked, "Thestrals?"

"I think so," Susan confirmed, nodding slowly, "But I didn't know they had any at Hogwarts, some say they're really, really unlucky."

"What are Thestrals?" Harry asked as he looked away from the creature.

"Oh no, that's just superstition." Someone familiar behind them. They turned to see Fred and George. "They aren't unlucky or a sign of a bad omen, in fact they're dead clever and useful!" Fred complemented.

"Sadly they're only used to pull the school carriages though." George noted glumly. "It's tradition, probably. Though I can't imagine what else they would do. Thestrals are amazingly powerful war mounts, but we're not exactly at war right now."

"They only get a bad reputation because people can only see them when they've to seen death." Fred revealed, changing topics after a thoughtful silence. "After seeing Quirrell die last year we're not surprised you lot can see them."

"How do you know about them?" Harry asked in shock, as far as he knew, the twins were only interesting in pranks.

"It might surprise you…" Fred smiled mysteriously.

"… But we do have other interest other than pranks…" George said, mimicking his brother's smile before the identical boys hopped into a stagecoach with their friend Lee.

Harry and the girls blinked in shock, apparently they did not know the twins as well as they thought they did. They the issue into the back of their minds though for now, they were cold and wanted to get into the warm school. So, after seeing Melody to the boats, Harry, Hermione, Su, Susan and Hannah climbed inside and shut the door the coach set off all by itself, bumping and swaying in procession. The coach smelled faintly of mold and straw.

The carriage trundled toward a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars. The carriage picked up speed on the long, sloping drive up to the castle; Hermione was leaning out of the tiny window, watching the many turrets and towers draw nearer, tossing out random facts she'd read about in _Hogwarts: A History_ and other Hogwarts centric books every so often. At last, the carriage swayed to a halt and they got out.

Once they were out, the five of them joined the crowd swarming up the steps, through the giant oak front doors, into the cavernous Entrance Hall, which was lit with flaming torches, and housed a magnificent marble staircase that led to the upper floors. There were also echoes of footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading to the Great Hall and the start-of-term feast.

The four long house tables in the Great Hall were filling up under the starry and clear night ceiling, which was just like the sky they could glimpse through the high windows. Candles floated in midair all along the tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts who were dotted about the Hall and the faces of the students talking eagerly, exchanging summer news, shouting greetings at friends from other houses, eyeing one another's new haircuts and robes. For some of the students entering third and fourth year it was also time to check out their fellow students bodies; Susan was certainly getting a fair amount of attention as her robe did little to hide the fact that the breast fairy had given her a generous helping.

After splitting up, Harry and Hermione went to the Gryffindor Table. The two found seats together about halfway down the table where they found their friends the Weasley Twins, with the Crimson Vixens sitting not far away.

As Harry looked around he was shocked to see that Ron wasn't at the table. He proceeded to question the twins about this. "So where is Ron? Don't think I've ever heard of him missing a feast before." Not really caring.

"Not sure…" Fred said as he looked around once more.

"… Couldn't find him on the train." George commented.

This made the group talk about all the ways why this was, all of them were silly as the next one. Ron had tripped and fallen and could not get up, his metabolism had suddenly caught up with him and he bloated to the size of a small car from all the food he had eaten, the Cart Lady from the Express had kidnapped him and was experimenting with new candies on him. It was a great way to pass the time, and even some of the students nearby piped in ideas occasionally.

It was not long before Harry's attention had been caught by Hagrid who had just appeared behind the staff table; he worked his way along to the very end and took his seat. That meant the first-years must have crossed the lake and reached the castle, and sure enough, a few seconds later, the doors from the Entrance Hall opened. A long line of scared-looking first-years entered, led by Professor McGonagall, who was carrying a stool on which sat an ancient wizards hat, heavily patched and darned with a wide rip near the frayed brim.

Harry was surprised to note that the Sorting Hat sang a different song. Oh the message was the same; it's better to be united then driven apart by your differences, and then proceeding to list the Houses differences - Gryffindors are brave, Hufflepuffs are loyal, Ravenclaws are wise, and Slytherins are cunning. As the Hat sang its song Fred whispered, "Oh, Harry, we should warn you…"

"… Our sister Ginny is starting this year." George continued, sounding just as reluctant as his twin.

"And, well, she has a thing for…"

"The Boy-Who-Lived." The twins whisper together.

Harry let out a groan mixed with a hopeless sigh; that was exactly what he needed. He had hoped to get away from fangirls. Hopefully Ginny would not sneak into his bed and rape him while he was asleep…

Before he could say anything about this the Hat stopped his song, and he knew he would have to wait. So Harry sat and watched the First Years get Sorted, the first few were of no interest to him, it was until Melody's name was called, began taking note of things. He hoped that the Hat would Sort her into Gryffindor.

_**o0OoO0o**_

'_Hmm, what do we have here?' _Melody heard in her head as the Hat was place on her head.

'_Who's there?_ _Who's in my head?' _Melody demanded.

'_It is I, the Sorting Hat.' _The voice of the Sorting Hat said with a chuckle. _'Oh you're so much like the one you call Master. At least you don't desire to model yourself after beings of pure evil. Though, even knowing this you wouldn't care and would still follow him. Loyalty that should be admired, or maybe feared? Not often I see a girl with a fetish for Evil. Last was that Metamorph girl, though she had no idea she possessed it…' _The Hat sighed before continuing, _'But I'm getting off topic; where should I place you, to make new magic and skills shows you have the ambition for Slytherin.' _The Hat shuddered when he thought of Harry and how he would react to such a thing, _'Potter would probably set me aflame if I put you in the 'snake pit'. You're loyal to your family and your Master, and you're a hard worker too, you would do well in Hufflepuff. It helps that you know two people in the House already and consider them friends. Although you're not as brave as your sister, you would do well in Gryffindor. But I think Ravenclaw will do you the best. It _would _help you and your Master make those new powers and skills you're attempting to recreate.'_ The Hat bargained.

The Sorting Hat could not place an unwilling student as long as that student was consciously aware that they had a choice, or was open to the idea of any of the Houses. If they were dead set on a particular house and would not accept no for an answer, there was little he could do. This was a failsafe in place for safety reasons so, to use a modern situation, a Muggleborn would be protected from being placed in the modern day Slytherin House, even if they were ambitious enough for it.

This was unknowingly exploited by a number of people, Slytherins being the most common offenders, becoming what some referred to as the 'legacy system', sometimes called the 'choice system', completely perverting the intentions of the House System. Barely any of the current Slytherins belonged there. In the Sorting Hat's opinion there was no Slytherin House anymore. Not a solid group at least, almost every one of the real Slytherins were spread out amongst the other Houses by this point.

'_No!' _Melody snapped, _'I want to be with my sister and Master, place me in Gryffindor.'_

'_I think you underestimate how useful Ravenclaw could be for you. The Gryffindor Head of House is too swamped in work delegated to her by the Headmaster to be a true Head of House, but Professor Flitwick is a very attentive man, he would be delighted to help you create a new branch of magic.'_ The enchanted cloth insisted.

Melody shook her head. _'You're under the impression we want help. We can do it ourselves. If we depend on other than they'll know what we're doing. That really defeats the purpose of a trump card, doesn't it?'_

The Sorting Hat sighed, knowing this girl would exploit the failsafe and the power to choose her own house. No argument he made, no matter how effective, would sway her on this. '_In that case it better be…'_

"GRYFFINDOR!" The Hat shouted. Harry and Hermione both clapped the loudest, but all Harry's friends who knew who Melody was clapped and cheered as the happy first year walked over to them and sat down between them in the seat they made.

The Sortings seemed to fly by with only two exceptions. Lovegood, Luna, when her name was called, wandered up to the stool with her naturally wide eyes on the ceiling the whole time. McGonagall tried to place the Hat on her head, but Luna snatched it out of the woman's hands instead.

"Hello Mr. Hat." Luna greeted.

The Hat chuckled, a large grin splitting the seams that made up his mouth. "So much like your mother, Ms. Lovegood, how is she?"

"She is fine Mr. Hat," Luna said happily, "she sends her greetings."

"Thank you, Ms. Lovegood." The Hat replied. "Ravenclaw, I take it?"

Luna nodded, smiling widely with pride. "Oh yes, please. That would be lovely!"

"Then so be it, please send my regards to your mother." The Hat asked, to which Luna nodded and the Hat called out, "RAVENCLAW!"

An amused McGonagall took the Hat from the Lovegood heiress and allowed the girl to skip over to her table.

Harry zoned out again until another familiar name was called. Weasley, Ginny was the last name on the list, meaning she was already incredibly nervous. What really pushed her over the edge though was when she glanced over at the Gryffindor table to look to her brothers support she saw Harry's intense green eyes focused completely on her.

Her legs turned to jelly and her ankles seemed to twist together. Ginny Weasley tripped and fell right in front of the stool.

Her fangirl-ness making itself readily apparent, Harry promptly lost interest. Ginny was sorted into Gryffindor, whether through the idiotic Legacy system or through real merit he was not sure, and took a seat about two dozen people away from him and proceeded to spend most of the feast staring at him and blushing.

Speaking of which, the feast itself was surprisingly uneventful. Dumbledore made a speech welcoming everyone back and introduced the newest addition to the staff at Hogwarts. Lockhart made a big show of accepting the cheers from the majority of the females inhabiting castle Hogwarts.

After the feast they were excused back to their Common Rooms for the evening by Percy Weasley. As they got to the Tower, Melody wanted a full tour of both the girls and boys dorms, however, Percy would not allow her up to the male dorms, saying it was inappropriate. Harry just scoffed at this; Hermione, more often than not last year had come up into his dorms to wake him up. the other boys in his year both knew about this and were even grateful for it, since it woke them up on time too. Musings aside, Harry smiled at what Melody tried to do, he had no trouble figuring out why she wanted to see the boys dorms; she wanted to know exactly which bed he slept in. Oh well, it would have to wait until later, he would show her later, unless Hermione came up to his room sometime tomorrow like she normally did.

The only other eventful thing that happened was the rumours of Ron Weasley flying a car to school being proven true. The portal had closed on him, so he decided to take his dad's flying car. Everyone seemed to be impressed at this. While the trio had shook their heads, they hoped this fifteen minutes of fame would mellow Ron out. It was unlikely, but they could hope. They each promised to never do anything stupid, since from what they heard, about dozen Mundanes had seen him. They silently slipped away and went to bed, allowing Ron his time.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_2nd of September:_

The next morning, Harry woke up early to start running with Melody. Before beginning Hogwarts the two decided they needed to build up their stamina so they can last longer in fights and because it was, in general, good for their health to be fit. They tried to convince Hermione to join them but, as expected, were unable to.

The run went well. Melody briefly pulled him into a small alcove to suck him off once they were done with the run, not minding that he was sweaty from the activity. One enjoyable release later, Harry and Melody made their way to Great Hall for breakfast. Along the way, they met up with Hermione and when they got into the Great Hall they found the Weasley Twins in the midst of a brainstorming session with Lee, so they sat by themselves.

Sadly, it was an actual rule that the students could not go to another table to eat until they got their class schedule, but the trio accepted the rule easily and happily because it was logical; if the Head of House was unable to find them all in one place, it would increase their workload, as well as the chance that the student would be without a schedule. The second they got their schedules their friends came over to talk about what classes they had together.

During their talks, Harry learned that Ron had crashed into a tree called the Whomping Willow, and had damaged it. Both him and the Granger sisters thought Ron was an idiot for accomplishing this, as he should have used the Floo like them. As they were talking, Ron had entered the Great Hall and sat next to them but did not say anything.

During breakfast the mail arrived, Neville had gotten a package with things that he forgot to bring from home, much to his embarrassment.

"_Errol!_" Ron cried, pulling the bedraggled the family owl out by the feet from the bowl of mashed potatoes he'd crashed into. Errol slumped, unconscious, onto the table, his legs in the air and a damp red envelope in his beak.

"Oh, no-" Ron gasped.

"It's all right, he's still alive… I think…" Hermione announced as she prodded Errol gently with the tip of her finger a few times.

"It's not that - it's _that_." Ron said, his voice filled with dread as he pointed towards the red envelope. It looked quite ordinary to Harry, but Ron and Neville were both looking at it as though they expected it to explode.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked.

"She's - she's sent me a Howler." Ron muttered faintly.

"You'd better open it, Ron." Neville spoke up in a timid whisper. "It'll be worse if you don't. My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and…" He gulped, "It was horrible."

Harry looked from their petrified faces to the red envelope.

"What's a Howler?" He asked, wondering what the big fuss was about.

But Ron's whole attention was fixed on the letter, which had begun to smoke at the corners.

"Open it," Neville urged. "It'll all be over in a few minutes -"

Ron stretched out a shaking hand, eased the envelope from Errol's beak, and slit it open. Neville stuffed his fingers in his ears. A split second later, Harry knew why. He thought for a moment it _had _exploded; a roar of sound filled the huge hall, shaking dust from the ceiling.

"_**- STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE -"**_

Mrs. Weasley's yells made the plates and spoons rattle on the table, and echoed deafeningly off the stone walls. People throughout the hall were swiveling around to see who had received the Howler, and Ron sank so low in his chair that only his crimson forehead could be seen.

"_**- LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME! WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS! ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED - YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME!"**_

A ringing silence fell. The red envelope, which had dropped from Ron's hand, burst into flames and curled into ashes. Ron sat there stunned, as though a tidal wave had just passed over them. A few people laughed and, gradually, a babble of talk broke out again.

Hermione closed _Voyages with Vampires_ that she had been reading and looked down at the top of Ron's head. "Are you alright Ronald?" Hermione asked softly. She may not have forgiven him for last year, but it didn't mean he deserved the Howler in front of everyone.

"I-I'll be Hermione." Ron whimpered. "Just… Just need some time."

Everyone was shocked at Ron, he didn't seemed to be rude towards her like he was last year. They had to wonder what was going on. "Ron why didn't you use the Floo in the Waiting Room to the Platform? I thought that being raised in the Wizarding World, you would have known about it."

"I didn't know about it." Ron admitted sheepishly, "If I did, I would have used it." Everyone was shocked that Ron didn't snap at her, and once again wondered what happened to him over the summer. Before anything could be said Professor McGonagall came along handing out their course schedules.

Harry noted that he had double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs first and was glad for a chance to talk to his Hufflepuff friends. Professor McGonagall suddenly said, "Mr. Potter, Professor Dumbledore would like to talk you after classes are done today."

"Do you know why Professor?" Harry inquired.

"I do not, sorry." Professor McGonagall admitted, "I can escort you to his office after your last class today."

"Thank you Professor, I'll see you then."

"I wonder what that was about?" Hermione wondered as her favourite Professor walked away.

Harry shook his head. "I have no idea, aside from the train incident with Draco I haven't done anything warranting a visit with the Headmaster. I doubt Draco would tell anyone about it, since he ran away with his tail between his legs." He reasoned.

Susan suddenly blurted excitedly, "Come on, we've got Double Herbology first, lets go!"

The group laughed at her enthusiasm and followed after her. Halfway to the Greenhouses Melody split off from the group to go to her first class.

_**o0OoO0o**_

The day was easy enough for the first day back, in Herbology they met up with Gilderoy Lockhart who was trying to tell Professor Sprout how to heal the Whomping Willow that was nearby. Upon seeing Harry Lockhart beat a hasty retreat, which prompted a surprised but grateful look from Professor Sprout. In the class, they went to Greenhouse Three. There was a murmur of interest; they had only ever worked in Greenhouse One before - Greenhouse Three housed far more interesting and dangerous plants. Today class was about Mandrakes, and how to repot them, before actually repotting them themselves. Mandrakes looked like an infant child, only huge, fat, made of plant material, covered in wrinkles, and possessed a wail that could, if they were fully grown, kill a child. adults were resistant to the cry, but could still die from continuous exposure.

During lunch, Harry met his first fanboy, Colin Creevey, who ignored any request to leave be left alone and wanted to take photos of Harry. It was only a threat of never even thinking about giving him a chance for any photos that Colin left Harry alone. Unfortunately that left Harry open for future photo requests. Well… at least that was future Harry Potter's problem, not his.

After lunch they had two classes, Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. In Transfiguration, they had to turn a beetle into a button, which Harry and Hermione found easy enough. But Ron had a problem, his wand was broken from the night before, and was not working as it should. He had patched up his wand with some borrowed Spellotape, but it seemed to be damaged beyond repair. It kept crackling and sparking at odd moments, and every time Ron tried to transfigure his beetle it engulfed him in thick gray smoke that smelled of rotten eggs. Unable to see what he was doing, Ron accidentally squashed his beetle with his elbow and had to ask for a new one. Professor McGonagall was not pleased.

Fortunately for Ron's continued health, Hermione and Harry had earned a total of twenty five points, fifteen and ten, respectively, for mastering the spell first and second, which offset Ron's loss of five points.

After class, Ron was told he should write home to get a new wand, but he refused as he did not want to get another Howler from his mother for what happened to it.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was something Harry bemoaned taking this year, and rightly so as he soon found out. The class had to do a pop quiz all about Lockhart. Then the bloody idiot, after the quiz, let loose Cornish pixies in the class. And after make a mess of thing trying to recapture them when they got out of hand left the section of the class that was not cowering or panicking, i.e. Harry and Hermione, to capture them.

After class was over and Harry had properly vented, along with Hermione and every other annoyed Gryffindor that left the classroom without being dismissed, Harry split from Hermione and headed towards Transfigurations.

Harry did not know any of the students leaving the classroom as he arrived, but they were first year Hufflepuffs, so that was not much of a surprise. McGonagall followed behind the students, reminding them of their homework for the evening - a two page essay on how to properly cast the match stick to needle transformation spell - and noticed his presence with a lack of surprise, like she had expected him to be there at that moment.

"Five points to Gryffindor, Mr. Potter, for excellent timing." The Gryffindor Head announced as she turned on her heel and began walking.

Harry fell into step behind her, shaking his head at the blatant favouritism. McGonagall was nowhere near as bad as Snape, no person alive could be, but she definitely had her moments. At least hers was partially justifiable to level the playing field for the House Cup. "So, am I in trouble for something?" Harry wondered.

"Not from what I can tell. Why, have you done something to warrant paranoia?" McGonagall wondered back.

Harry grinned and decided he may as well be honest. "Don't know, sort of, I think. On the Express Malfoy paid me his traditional visit, called my friends sluts, whores, Mudbloods and Blood Traitors before I reminded him that there were six of us and three of them. You know, nothing out of the ordinary." He snarked.

"Take fifty points for standing up for your friends with a cool head. I believe that shall be two hundred points from Slytherin for offensive language and behaviour." The older woman almost growled, her expression furious as she continued staring straight forward.

The rest of the journey was silent as they made their way towards the Headmaster's Office.

When they arrived it looked like his Head of House was going to leave after giving the password to the stone guardian, so Harry spoke up. "May I request you sit in on the meeting? I'm not sure what the Headmaster wants, but it would be nice having some back up if Malfoy did whine to Snape about what happened. I'm sure his story would be wildly different than my own."

Her face darkened for an instant before she schooled it, but Harry knew he had chosen his words correctly before she even responded.

"Of course, Mister Potter." She said calmly as she started walking up the spiral staircase, followed by Harry.

_**o0OoO0o**_

Albus 'too many titles' Dumbledore, was sitting in his office with Severus Snape awaiting for Harry Potter, his Pawn in his game of the Greater Good. As he sat there and waited, he thought about how things did not seem to be going his way lately. All his plans to rule the Magical World seemed to be crumbling around him. It all started with Gellert Grindelwald; he felt that the Wizarding World should be controlled, as if it wasn't their way of life would be destroyed by the Muggles changing their beliefs and way of living.

Although Gellert might have had a good idea, but the way he went about it was all wrong. It was a great shame that he had to defeat Gellert, his best friend and lover, and put him into Nurmengard - the prison that Gellert made. With the defeat of Gellert, Albus realized how he could win, people treated him almost like Merlin and thought of him as the Leader of the Light. However, he could only do so much with this new power and respect people were giving him. He knew that if he wanted to control the Wizarding World, he need to become more powerful and respected than Merlin himself. So over the years he trained and trained, until he was the most powerful person in their world. Over the years he was able to gain the titles of Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. However, even with these titles and control he had, he still limited, he needed something more.

That was when Voldemort came along, and people look upon him to deal with the new Dark Lord. And Albus knew that should he be able to defeat Voldemort, they would do whatever he wanted. But the problem came along in the form of the Horcruxes and the thrice damned prophecy. Without destroying all the Horcruxes, Voldemort would be unable to be killed. And then there was the prophecy saying that only one person would be able to defeat the new Dark Lord. Worst of all, it described someone other than him; it was two unborn children that fell under the prophecy's description. Instead, it was either a child from the Potters or Longbottoms, which he was later informed were named Harry and Neville, respectively.

It was not until Halloween of 1981 that he found out the Prophecy Child was Harry Potter. It was luck that the Potters were killed and he could control what happened next, but now he had to think how to control the young Potter so that he would be weak but loyal to him. He knew that anyone in the Wizarding World would treat him very well, and possibly make it so Potter would think for himself and use his fame to get what he wanted for himself. But luck seemed to be smiling upon him, as he remembered about Lily's magic hating sister Petunia Evans now Dursley. Luck was even further on his side, as her husband was a bully and hated anything that could not be called normal, leading Albus to correctly believe he would also hate magic, and consequently Potter because of it. It was the ideal breeding ground for a meek child ripe for brainwashing in the form of a 'saviour'.

Once he left the with the Dursleys he used his power as the Potter Heir's Magical Guardian to get the money from the Potter's Vault. It was less than half a percent of the money available to Harry himself, barely skimming the interest, really, but it was just enough for what Albus needed it for. He was also able to blackmail Severus Snape into working at Hogwarts, so when Potter came to Hogwarts Snape could treat him badly, which Dumbledore would counteract by being using his usual grandfatherly routine, further indebting the boy to him.

So after years of waiting, the young Potter finally arrived at Hogwarts he was lonely, albeit a bit too independent for his liking though not too much. More importantly, the boy was desperate for friends. Already knowing this would happen, Dumbledore collaborated with Molly Weasley so her son, Ronald Weasley, would become friends with young Harry.

Albus knew from the start that his plans were falling apart, but he hoped that he could at least rework his plans to fit around the complications. He had hoped that, being the incredibly lazy boy Ronald was, it would be passed on to Harry. That plan, sadly, bore no fruit; Harry's study habits were already too ingrained. Ronald still did part of his job at least; informing him of most of what the last Potter was up to.

Another problem was when the young Potter made friends with the school's new know-it-all, Hermione Granger. At first, they had a rocky start; she was a bossy girl, with a know-it-all attitude, which Albus thought would break their friendship, but the tentative friendship survived. Dumbledore was surprised when Potter was able to break her of her bad habits after a while; he was supposed to have too little confidence to do something like that according to the plan. The solid friendship that was born between the two was the start of his plans falling apart. Not even having Ronald try and split them up worked, in fact all it did was cause Potter to break his friendship with Ronald. So not only had that entire branch of plans failed, they backfired spectacularly.

Another problem was when Granger took the Potter Heir to be checked over by Madam Pomfrey for the abuse by the hands of the Dursleys, and thus, got the potions to fix the damage done to him. He needed that damage to stay! Quite a bit had been invested in masking the abuse from Muggle authorities. One way to keep him meek was to stunt his growth; self-confidence was hard to maintain when you looked down at yourself and saw a scrawny runt.

Another thing was that Harry wanted more than making friends with just Granger. He began to make friends with people that Albus wanted him to avoid. The combination of all these events completely shattered his plans for Harry's first year, and Dumbledore now had to think of ways to alter the situation to fit the new plans. His plan for the Philosopher's Stone made a poignant example. Because Harry listened to his new friends and they helped him of their own accord, without prompting and independent of Dumbledore, the trap was easily thwarted. The trap had been disarmed, not even snapping shut early and getting anything, but simply made useless.

However, he was able to quickly devise a new plan for the boy. He planned it so Harry returned to the Dursleys, he would cast a few spells on the magic hating Muggles to make them even more abusive. Harry would obviously write to him for help, and Dumbledore would assure him he would try his best to get him to the Weasley's a few weeks before Hogwarts started, which would be the 'best he could do', even this kindness would certainly drive Harry's opinion of him ever higher.

However, when he went to the house to cast the spells on the Dursleys, he found that the Dursleys were not there, and there was no sign his pawn had even returned to the house. Where the boy had gotten to, the holder of far too many titles to be legal did not know.

It was a great relief to find the boy had returned to Hogwarts alive and well. Now he could plan how to regain control of the situation. He already set it up so that Ronald could get back with into Harry's good books; Molly and he had given the youngest male Weasley a talk over the summer and by the looks of it, it was working. He now had to find out where the Potter Heir disappeared to over the summer.

Before Albus could think more about the matter, the wards informed him that someone was near his door, and by the signatures they belonged to Harry and McGonagall. Before they could knock, he called, "Come in Minerva, Harry!"

_**o0OoO0o**_

Harry was shocked when he heard the Headmaster tell them to enter, not only did he know they were at the door without them knocking, but he also knew it was them. Since he had arranged the meeting it was easy to guess it was Professor McGonagall and Harry, but how did he know they were there?

Putting that thought aside as they entered the room Harry looked around; the room was a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tattered wizard's hat - the Sorting Hat.

As he was examining the room he heard McGonagall say, "I've brought Mr. Potter, Headmaster."

"Thank you, Minerva." the Headmaster said with a grandfatherly smile, "You may go."

"Mr. Potter asked me to stay, and as such, I will be standing in on this meeting and fulfilling my duty as his Head of House." McGonagall said officially.

"And to be honest Headmaster, I would prefer that she does." Harry stated, "Especially if Professor Snape is staying. As far as I know I've done nothing wrong and if anyone is meant to be here, it's Professor McGonagall."

"Why you arrogant brat, just like your father." Snape sneered instantly.

"He's right, Severus, he's well within his rights to ask you to leave, since, judging by the lack of Slytherin student in this room, I can only guess you serve no purpose here in the professional capacity and will only serve to interrupt this meeting every time Mr. Potter speaks to show the rest of us just how petty you are." Minerva intervened, glaring at the sallow faced man. She was still angered by what Harry had told her, it seemed, to attack the man so blatantly.

"That might be true Minerva, but I've asked Severus to be here." Dumbledore explained. What he intentionally neglected to tell her was that he wanted Severus' help to cast a few spells on Harry to regain control of him, and make sure no more of his plans were ruined. Now that Minerva was here at the request of the young Potter, though, that path was blocked for now. Regardless, the Headmaster would not be stopped from finding out where he was however, so with a grandfatherly smile he inquired, "Now Harry, can you tell me where you were this summer?"

"No offence sir, but what concern is it of yours where I was over the summer?" Harry asked politely, "You're my Headmaster, that's a fairly personal question to asking for the relationship we have."

"Why you rude arrogant-" Snape started building up steam, but was stopped by a look from McGonagall. "Severus, Albus might have asked you to be here, but unless you have something _useful _to contribute, _be silent_." The Gryffindor head snarled, her normally calm facade cracking under the constant barrage of reminders that her co-worker was a downright horrible human being, and so were some of his students. She seamlessly changed the subject, "Mr. Potter is right again, Albus. When he isn't inside the castle you have no authority over where he stays and what he does. "

Albus mentally sighed at this, this wasn't going the way he wanted, not at all. "I might be his Headmaster, but I'm also his Magical Guardian and as such it is my job to make sure he is safe. I went to his home to check in on him but when I got there I found that the Dursleys weren't there, and you never returned to them. So I was wondering where you been Harry."

"May I ask why you care where I was?" Harry asked coolly, "You may be my Magical Guardian, but you've never been there before, so why bother now? I can handle my own affairs."

"Harry you need to be at the Dursleys for your own protection." Dumbledore said with a sigh.

"Some protection," Harry growled. "What did it protect me from? It sure as hell wasn't my family."

Unknown to Harry, McGonagall give Dumbledore a dark look, but remained silent in front of Harry. She pointedly neglected to reprimand Harry for his abrasive attitude, which was all Dumbledore needed to know about her feelings, even if he had missed the look.

"From Death Eaters Harry, Voldemort's followers." Dumbledore said with another sigh, he had not wanted to say anything, but if he wanted the boy back to the Dursleys another half-truth would be needed. "I've put wards up around your home to protect you and your family from magical attacks, and as long as you think of it as home, the place would protect you all. You will have to go home every year to recharge them. You would only have to stay for a few weeks, a month at most. At the moment they are weak and if not recharged soon, they'll fall. That's why this Christmas, you'll have to go back to the recharge the wards."

In truth all the wards did was siphon Harry's magic to fuel the standard plethora of wards designed to keep magicals out. So it _DID _sort of do as Albus said it did, but it also weakened Harry while he was in it, making him a prime target for the magically enhanced abuse from his Relatives.

"I'm sorry Headmaster, but I have other plans for Christmas." Harry announced flatly. "And none of them involve going back to the Dursleys. They are not family to me, and Privet Drive has never been something I ever once considered a home, just a place I was forced to stay." Harry's growing frustration culminated in one of the devices behind Dumbledore, a weakly chugging chimney like tube, giving an almost silent wheeze as it finally stopped working. The intent ward connect to Harry and holding the ward scheme together finally failed as the boy outright denied the information that it needed to keep going. No one but Dumbledore noticed this, and the man was not happy about it; the sound informed him that the wards around the Dursleys had fallen.

Although he knew this, he still needed Potter back to the Dursleys, to keep him from learning too much and force him to be meek. It would also let him recast the wards if he could convince Harry to think of the house as home in any way. So with a sigh he said, "Harry I need to insist that you go, as you need to be protected." A growl was his response.

"Headmaster, I've been as polite as I can be, if you keep insisting on this matter I'm afraid I'm going to start becoming difficult." Harry said, knowing full well how difficult a teenager could be about things and using it to his advantage. "Nothing you say will make me want to go back to those… _people._ I have several options available to me, I can hide myself just fine."

Dumbledore sighed once more, he obviously was going to be unable to get Harry to change his mind this evening, so he changed tactics. "Can you tell me where you have been?"

Harry was by no means stupid. If he told the old man, he would try and block Harry from staying with the Grangers in the future. "That would defeat the purpose of hiding, wouldn't it? If there isn't anything else Headmaster, I've got homework to do." He promptly stood up to leave the office.

Snape's face was rapidly approaching Vernon-9 as Minerva's furious stare kept his tongue in check, and could do little but glare at the Potter brat for his arrogance

Dumbledore decided he needed to quickly change tactics to try to disperse some of the tension and animosity. "You're quite right, Harry. Before you go, could you at least tell me if you enjoyed your summer?" Appealing to the boy's sense of fun and showing a bit of concern could help begin the process of bringing him back into the fold.

A calmer Harry replied, "I did, in fact, enjoy myself this summer. I got to see many things and go many places I had never experienced before. It was possibly the best summer of my life." Harry had picked up on the prompt change in the Headmaster's attitude and decided to give him a suitable non-response. He would not bite the bait that the Headmaster was fishing with.

Quiet, furious mutterings met his answer before yet another sharp look from Minerva kept the greasy-haired one from mouthing off at the boy.

"… Very well, Harry, you may go." Dumbledore finally said with a long suffering sigh, using a slight smile to mask his true frustration. The meeting had been a complete failure. No information had been gained, verbally or mentally because he was barred from using Legilimency in Minerva's presence, Minerva was now suspicious of him, Potter even more at odds, and worst of all Dumbledore was the one who would have to listen to Snape whine and bitch about everything that had just happened, which would be like reliving this failure at least a dozen times.

The worst was yet to come, however, because when Harry turned and walked out of the office Minerva stayed behind, her expression still thunderous. When she took Harry's vacated seat he knew he was in for a very long evening.

_**o0OoO0o**_

The rest of the afternoon and evening passed quickly for Harry, mainly because he was frustrated at Dumbledore's attempts at fishing for information about where he was staying over the summer holidays. Why should the old man start caring now when he never had before? Harry was annoyed at how little he knew of Dumbledore's motives.

His frustration did not go unnoticed either, because when Harry got to the library to do his homework with his friends, his friends had noticed this easily and had asked about it, but Harry had just told them that the Headmaster was attempting to single him out due to his "Boy-Who-Lived" status, making sure that he was alright. It was not a complete lie and readily believable. Not to mention it was no secret that he disliked getting special treatment due to his moniker.

The group accepted his answer and proceeded to demolish their homework in short order.

While sitting in the library, Harry tried to focus on his Herbology essay on mandrakes. While citing uses for the plant, he came across the Purging Draught, which used mandrake in small quantities as one of its supplemental ingredients. The potion was intended to clear out harmful potions. The book Harry referenced cited loyalty potions, complacency draughts and suggestive potions. Just reading how potions could be used to manipulate people, specifically him, fueled his anger and frustration.

Harry knew if he was not careful, Dumbledore might go so far as to use potions to ensure cooperation. Thinking about why it might be necessary to keep him in line only fueled his darker thoughts. Dumbledore had never cared before, despite the abhorrent treatment Harry received at the Dursley's, so what make the situation different now?

No matter how hard Harry tried to push the thoughts to the side, they kept seeping in, causing him to clench his fist more than once, ruining quills. Eventually, a soft hand covered his, distracting him before he destroyed his fourth quill. Melody looked at him with concern. It didn't lessen his growing frustration, but it did distract him long enough to finish his work.

Soon enough it was nearly midnight, everyone was now in bed apart from himself and a few Prefects returning from patrols. Harry had been unable to sleep, so he read his books for hours, which was a mistake, as his shoulders and neck quickly grew stiff from leaning over desks and reading after so long. To try to relax, he took a nice, long, hot shower. This worked wonders for his sore back, but really made him aware of how tired he was. His arousal only brought to mind yet again how frustrated he was, so he headed to his dorm to relieve part of the situation.

He opened the curtain to his bed and slipped inside. He instantly noticed the curtain turn solid, as opposed to the slightly see through pattern it normally was and could readily guess why; someone already inside had activated the Ward scheme simply called the 'Lights Out Ward' that blocked all light from entering for those picky sleepers who needed total darkness. Harry was incredibly grateful the ward also blocked sound, both inside and out, but was annoyed with himself for taking two months to find it, since it meant he had to suffer Ron's snoring for that long as the ginger apparently could not be arsed to activate his. Just remembering those two months caused him to growl at the inconsiderateness of the ponce. Harry had no idea why, the curtain solidified enough that someone could knock on them, which the person in the bed could hear, so somebody could wake him up fairly easily if he asked.

"Mel, what are you doing here?" Harry asked in surprise. He wasn't expecting her to sneak into his bed like she did over the summer - Melody was very clearly a nymphomaniac, despite the lack of full blown sex yet. And they had only gone as far as they had because it did not feel right to go further for some reason. Still, she was an unexpected surprise to find in his dorm with all the others in the room. He assumed she would wait until they were alone, like they had been this morning, or pull him away for a quick 'chat' so their friends would grant them a bit of privacy.

"You were in such a bad mood today Master, so I thought I come to help you relax." Melody said sadly as she threw off Harry's Cloak of Invisibility, which she still had to make occasions like this far less risky than they normally were. "I would have been here sooner, but my sister wanted to make sure I was tucked in and delayed me, or I would have joined you in the shower. So, will you let me help you to relax, or do you want me to go back to my room?"

Harry had a brain blast, all that frustration he'd been feeling had no outlet, but now Melody was in his bed and was eager and willing to be that outlet. In the back of his mind he could swear seeing Lucy smiling at him.

"On your back. Now." Harry demanded, forgoing their usual banter, his perspective swapping as the girl in bed with him went from his friend Melody to his Apprentice whose current purpose was to please him.

_**Lime Begins: Skip if you're underage or not into this kind of thing!**_

Melody blinked in surprise at the sudden order, but her body had already twisted around and fell back onto the bed before she could consciously obey his order. A thrill shot up her spine as her peeved looking Master yanked off his clothes in seconds and crawled up on her. She greedily opened her mouth, preparing her throat for the imminent invader.

"Not yet." Harry growled as he leaned over and kissed her roughly, rougher than he had ever kissed her. It was a kiss of frustration, of anger, everything that was built up in Harry that afternoon and evening. As he used one hand to pull Melody into the kiss, he used his other hand to finger fuck Melody's pussy roughly.

As he was doing this, Melody was moaning up a storm into the kiss, her hands eagerly gripping his shoulder to keep him in place. Ever since puberty hit her, she had been feeling things that kids her age normally did not feel; her libido was in constant overdrive and no amount of fingering or whatever else she did to herself fully satisfied her cravings. She was saved when she met her Master, she knew he was the one that would sate her sexual needs, ever since he'd first seen her naked butt, the look he sent her for the barest second sent shivers down her spine and had attracted her initial interest. And did he ever please her! He was inexperienced at first, but so was she, so they learned together. Harry had not quite caught on to exactly how much she liked being roughly used, and even sometimes abused, but she was sure he would pick up the signs soon enough. Right now, for instance, she was in heaven as he completely dominated her, his tongue ruling her mouth while his fingers viciously stabbed at her pussy.

"I have such a wet Apprentice…" Harry commented as he pulled back from the kiss, "Do you like this?" Still fingering her roughly as he held her head in place.

"Oh y-yes Master, I-I do…" Melody said, squirming as an orgasm washed over her, "P-Please use me as you wish, use me, Master. This Apprentice is yours to handle as you wish. My pussy and-" She took his hand from her head and the hand in her pussy and placed both of them onto her ass, getting a brief respite from the fingering, enough to catch her breath. It was not much as Harry did not waste a second and was fondling her arse "Ah! My ass is yours too!"

She moaned in disappointment for a moment, only to gasp in surprise as he suddenly latched onto her budding breasts yet again squeezing them roughly.

Harry was growing incredibly aroused at her submissive claims and put even more effort in making her moan. He rammed his middle and index finger back into her pussy and curled his fingers lightly in the way he knew made her scream and worked on sucking and fondling her breasts. His efforts pulled a shriek from Melody, her back arching and a full body shudder passing through her. "J-just like… that Master… use me!" She panted, her tongue not working perfectly and her words coming out slurred slurred.

Unnoticed by her, as she was climaxing Harry had shifted both their positions so she was on her back and he was in the best position possible to use access her throat.

Melody once more moaned in disappointment as as her Master removed his hands from her breasts. But as she opened her eyes to plead with him to keep going all she could see was his descending shaft. An instant later his balls were resting and covering her nose while his cock tried its damndest to reach her stomach through her throat.

Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes and her pussy started drooling heavily as her Master began almost bouncing up and down on her face, repeating cramming every inch of his length into her throat. As worked up as he was, and as hard as he was pumping his cock into her throat, it was only a short time before he began to cum.

Her hips jerked as she experience a minor orgasm as Harry pressed her pelvis against her face as hard as he could, grinding his length in as far as it could go. She could feel his shaft almost vibrate before he gave a throaty groan and the flood began. Swallowing around his cock as it spewed semen straight into her stomach she was very happy to note that his moans increased in volume.

Melody suddenly heaved as Harry pulled out at an awkward angle. He did so so he could climb into her chest, which she learned when she calmed her gag reflex down and felt her Master's slimy cock begin using her budding breasts to get himself off. She transformed, knowing her breasts were larger in her monster form by some quirk of nature. He failed to comment on her change, but his pace did speed up noticeably.

Harry growled as the soft hair from Melody's monster form further stimulated his cock. His increased pace coaxed him to higher levels of arousal. While holding her breasts around his cock, Harry gave them a rough squeeze causing her to moan in pleasure.

Feeding off Melody's moans, he squeezed and thrust harder, bringing both of them to new heights of pleasure. The harder he squeezed the louder she moaned. Minutes later his thrusts, her fur, her moans, and his dominance drove him over the edge. Harry exploded all over Melody's breasts, face and hair. Her immediate reaction was to lean up and engulf the tip of his cock with her mouth and suck down the subsequent spurts of cum.

As the flood subsided, Harry fell back to catch his breath. Swallowing the last remnants in her mouth, Melody shuddered in delight at the taste flooded her senses. "Master, you taste so good," She moaned, rubbing her breasts after his violent squeezing of them. "And my breasts, I love how you just mauled them."

Harry watched Melody rub the cum into her fine fur, moaning in delight. The sight brought him back to full mast before he growled, shifting to stand on his knees. He pulled Melody to sit up before grabbing her head, threading his fingers in her hair and roughly pulled her towards him. Her lips quickly engulfed him as he used his grip to thrust harder into her mouth.

His treatment of Melody grew rougher as he felt more stimulated by her mouth and tongue. He looked down, watching her lightning bolt shaped tail swishing back and forth before he got another idea. Releasing her head he grabbed her tail and pulled.

"Turn around." He commanded. Melody was quick to comply while bemoaning the loss of her mouth being full of her Master's tasty cock. His rough tug on her tail forced her arse up into the air and a quick push dropped her head to the bed.

She was revelling in her Master's treatment of her when she felt his hardness slip between her thighs. Her wetness running down her leg made them slick as he plunged himself between her squeezing thighs. His grip on her tail never slackened as he pulled on her hair to aid him in his thrusting.

Melody deeply wished he would just slam himself into her pussy, but he never did. She found it hard to feel annoyed or disappointed about this when her exposed clit took the full brunt of the veins of his cock, causing her thighs to squeeze together even harder though.

All in all, it promised to be a very tiring night. She was so glad she "liberated" that book on dirty talk from her mother's stash of trashy romance novels. Who knew it would be this effective?

_**Lime Ends: Read from here if you skipped the Lime!**_

After a few more hours of her Master manhandling her causing a number of orgasms she neglected to bother counting later Melody found herself besides her Master covered in his cum with him fast asleep holding her. Seeing as any more fun would have to wait for another night, she put her Master's Cloak of Invisibility on and left. She wanted to say her stumble was from a sore and overworked pussy, or ass, but her Master had not seen fit to bestow that sort of prize upon her yet, so it was simply her own tiredness showing. One lazy and sluggish shower later, she collapsed onto her bed, her dreams filled with her Master taking her remaining virginities over and over again.

_**TO BE CONTINUED!**_

_**Authors Note:**_ Here ends another chapter of Vulcan, I thank you for reading and I hope that you keep on reading and enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing this. I would like to hear your ideas if have any. The main ideas I'm looking for apart, apart from the plot related ones, are powers that Harry and his group can either learn, or just research. Even if they don't learn the abilities doesn't mean they can't research them and try.


	8. Chapter 8 - Second Year: Part 1!

'_Thoughts!'_

_§ 'Parseltongue!' §_

_**Chapter 8**_

_1st of October:_

It was no secret that Harry was able to spot the Snitch well before either of the Seekers in almost every game in his first year, so when time for tryouts rolled around Harry's Quidditch playing friends urged and begged him to at least try for a spot on the team. Harry reluctantly agreed, but only put forth a half-hearted performance at best; the game did not particularly interest him but neither did he want to allow Slytherin House to win. To his shock, he was on the team within fifteen minutes.

Harry also found himself having… complications with what could pass for his sex life. After overhearing the older boys bragging about what their accomplishments with their respective girlfriends, combined with Melody's not-so-subtle attempts to go further, topped off with his increasingly common wet dreams about finally taking several of his friends in erotic scenarios…

It may not have been stressful, Melody making sure he never felt pent up in the least certainly helped, but it was definitely something he needed to deal with.

Melody was not the only one to want more, Lucy was also demanding for Harry to go further. Harry's reluctance to be with Lucy was incredibly short lived. Harry had tried to argue that they were still brother and sister, but Lucy just stared at him with a dry, annoyed look before a car appeared in her hands, which she then threw at him, just to bring home how ludicrous the situation they were already in was. And so Lucy got what she wanted and Harry got to experience sex for the first time, albeit probably not as pleasurable as real sex since his body, thus his brain, was unaware as to how to simulate it in his dreams.

He might not have been ready for sex in real life, but the idea was growing on him and his indecision would be short lived.

As for classes, the group was steadily making their way through the assigned work. In Herbology they were still working on Mandrakes, but had branched out to learn about other plants while the Mandrakes matured a little more. Transfigurations was going slower as they had only finished turning a beetle into a button just yesterday with the reason for this being that a few people - Ron and Neville - were still having problems and had only mastered the spell the other day. Charms was going smoothly, everyone was doing well under Flitwick's eager teaching style. Potions was still a nightmare with Snape was breathing down everyone's necks in Gryffindor - mainly Harry's - and allowed the Slytherins ruin Gryffindor potions by throwing things into their cauldrons. The upside of this being Harry was getting a lot of practice in for his upcoming position of Seeker in Gryffindor's first game. Defense Against the Dark Arts was still a joke; Lockhart's skills as a teacher were mediocre at best and all they did was act out his 'adventures'.

The entire castle was abuzz with the news. As a glitter covered notice informed the reader, there would be a Duelling Club starting in a few days time. There were many rumours about who could be running the club. Most people thought it could be Professor Flitwick, seeing as he was a duelling champion when he was younger. Harry could not care less, provided the instructor was someone other than Lockhart or Snape. He would give any other instructor an honest try.

However, that was set aside for the future as, at the moment, Harry's group had more important things to do. It was quite a while before the Gryffindor trio had any time to relax for a worthwhile period of time again, but, once they all had enough free time, Harry and Hermione got together and gave Melody a tour of Hogwarts showing her some shortcuts and hidden passageways they lacked the time to beforehand. Melody was happy to spend time with her sister; the daunting amount of work the teachers handed out prevented her from being able to fraternize with anyone except those her own age that she shared classes with. Anyone can criticize the dropping standards of public education and the increasingly lazy attitudes of students, but the transition from a relaxing vacation in France to an incredibly intense academic atmosphere in an entirely new world would be jarring for any child. Thankfully, the transition period for Melody was ending and right now she was having fun with being shown around by Harry and Hermione. Melody might have still needed more time to transition to the demands of Hogwarts and subsequently have more free time to spend with her Master and older sister as well as make new friends in her year, but for the moment, she cherished the break in the work.

As the three were coming back from the lake they came across a scene of interest between two Ravenclaw girls. The first was an attractive girl, she looked like she was of Chinese descent, with long, shining dark hair and eyes, and light freckles on her nose - she looked a bit older, like she was in her third year. The other girl looked like she was a first year, she had waist-length, straggly, dirty blonde hair, protuberant grey eyes that seemed to be dreamily distracted, and faint eyebrows.

"Do you really believe in half the crap that comes from you mouth? You must be loony! Hey, that's a good name for you, Loony Lovegood." The black haired girl said, grinning meanly.

"Well of course I do! My mother told me my father researched them for a living, so they must be real." 'Loony' Lovegood replied cheerfully.

"A third year bullying a first year, pathetic." Harry cut in coldly, "And from the House of the smart too."

"What concern is it of yours, Potter?" The older Ravenclaw sputtered, looking embarrassed, probably at being caught. "I'm sick of her raving about imaginary creatures nobody can see or hear. She's crazy, and a distraction we don't need. Honestly, if I hear the words Nargle and Wrackspurt again I'm going to snap! She doesn't belong in Ravenclaw." She raved, clearly agitated by the younger 'Claws beliefs.

Harry looked at the older girl strangely, so what if the Lovegood girl believed in things most did not think existed? Just because the public at large had never seen them or knew of them did not disprove their existence. They could easily be very low in number, or hidden by some inborn ability like a chameleon.

Harry may have been quite new to magic, but he could easily see there being a kind of ocular ability that allowed the user to see through stealth magic, maybe the blonde girl had this gift and just didn't know it? With all this in my Harry's reaction was obvious. With a scoff Harry shook his head slowly, "I didn't know 'proper' Ravenclaws were so closed minded. Who's to say your Housemate isn't gifted, and can see the unseeable?"

The oriental girl got defensive as he called her intelligence into question. "You don't know anything about magic, Potter."

"Oh?" Harry challenged. "If I were to snap my fingers right now, what would happen? What are the possibilities of that action?"

The girl looked at him oddly, but answered. "You would either snap your fingers or just rub them together, if you can't snap, I guess."

Harry snapped his fingers, and what happened caused both Ravenclaws to jump and gasp; a crackle of flames dances around his fingers for a few seconds before fading away.

"H-How did you?"

"Wow, that's really cool!" The two girls responded.

Harry grinned, "If I can do that, who's to say Ms. Lovegood can't see things that don't want to be seen?"

"It's Luna." Luna clarified.

"Cho Chang." Cho answered distantly. Her distant eyes focused briefly and she said, "I'll just being going." Not giving a word of apology.

Only after Cho left did Harry realize how stupid it was to show off his abilities so brazenly like that. Still, looking at how happy and excited Luna seemed to look he considered it a worthy exchange. "If she starts bothering you again you can come talk to me, if you want?" He offered awkwardly. He'd never had the motivation to save anyone from bullies back in public school, he was a little lost.

Luna shook her head. "Oh, no, Cho was just frustrated, she didn't really mean to take it out on me. I think she's under a lot of pressure from her family. She's been getting a lot of mail lately." She explained sympathetically. "I can tell because she didn't steal any of my things like the others."

"Well that's goo-" Harry paused mid-word as her statement sunk in, "Wait, others?"

He looked up, only to see Luna skipping down the corridor. She spun around, never slowing pace as she skipped backwards. "Bye Harry! I'm going to be late for class."

Seeing her about to turn a corner Harry called hurriedly, "Come join our group some time in the library!"

He shook his head as the quirky girls voice echoed, "Okay!" from wherever she was by that point.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_3rd of October:_

It was Saturday, the day that most of the students were waiting for; the start of the Duelling Club. From what Harry found in Hogwarts: A History, the last time the Duelling Club was up and running was about fifty years ago. It stopped because no teacher wanted to take it up again. So Harry had to wonder why was it being set up again after so many years…

Anyway at noon that day Harry, Hermione and Melody went to the Great Hall where the Club was being held. As they got there they saw that the Hall was heavily rearranged. The long dining tables had vanished and a golden stage had appeared along one wall, lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. The ceiling was velvety black once more and most of the school seemed to be packed beneath it, all carrying their wands and looking excited.

"I wonder who'll be teaching us?" Hermione wondered as they edged into the chattering crowd, they stopped next to their friends. "Someone told me Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young - maybe it'll be him?"

"As long as it's not Lockhart, I don't mind. He can't teach to save his life." Harry grumbled, to his friends agreement. Seconds later the group groaned as they saw Gilderoy Lockhart walking onto the stage, resplendent in robes of deep plum and accompanied by none other than Snape, wearing his usual black.

Lockhart waved an arm for silence and called, "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!

"Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to restart this Duelling Club, which was canceled fifty years when no other teacher wanted to teach it again. However, I thought that it would be good to bring it back, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions - for full details, see my published works."

'_So that's his plan,' _Harry thought darkly, _'trying to sale more of his rubbish work onto us. A pointless gesture, we were already forced to buy everything he's published.'_

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape." Lockhart announced, flashing a wide smile. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry - you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

"Wouldn't it be good if they finished each other off?" Harry heard Ron mutter behind him. And Harry agreed, if, how highly unlikely it would, they could finish each other off, it would remove two pests from Hogwarts.

But Harry saw Snape's upper lip was curling, and he wondered why Lockhart was still smiling; if Snape had been looking at him like that he'd have been, at the very least, on guard. Lockhart looked completely carefree.

Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and bowed; at least, Lockhart did, with much twirling of his hands, whereas Snape jerked his head irritably. Then they raised their wands like swords in front of them.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position." Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

"I wouldn't bet on that." Harry murmured, watching Snape baring his teeth.

Not noticing this, Lockhart said with a smile, "Now on the count of three, One - two - three -"

Both of them swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent; Snape cried: "Expelliarmus!" But at the same time there was flash of bright coloured light.

When they could see again, they saw Snape looking shocked as he saw Lockhart standing with a smile on his face, with Snape's wand in his hand. "Well, there you have it, the Disarming Charm. If I didn't cast the Fulgor Charm Professor Snape's own Disarming Charm would have hit me and I would have most likely been knocked on the floor and lost my own wand."

All the girls cheered at this, even Harry began to feel some respect for the fool. He may not be a great teacher, but by the looks of it, he knew what he was doing when it came to duelling. "I want to stress to you all that Duelling skill does not equate to how many spells you know or how powerful you are, but how well you've mastered what you feel comfortable casting quickly and efficiently." Lockhart explained, "However, the Disarming Charm is a good spell to know, so let me put you all into pairs and you can learn this handy spell. Here you go Professor Snape, your wand," Lockhart added as he give Snape's wand back. But backed off as he saw Snape looking murderous, he clearly didn't like being shown up by the blond man. Slightly more weary, the man continued. "Now if you would like to pair up with your friends one on one, and me and Professor Snape teach you how to cast the Disarming Charm as well as the Stunning and Shield Charms, three important skills for beginners at duelling. Knowing these three will help immensely should you find yourself in a duel."

So with that the class paired up with each other, Harry and Hermione were together whilst Melody was with the girl that they helped a few days ago Luna. Over the next hour the class learnt how to cast the Disarming, Stunning and Shield Charms. Harry was shocked to find out that while Lockhart was completely terrible at teaching Defence, he was very good at teaching duelling. Harry wondered briefly why Lockhart hadn't just been hired to teach duelling, or at least oversee the club for the year, since he seemed more suited for it.

After the half an hour Lockhart called out, "That's enough… now we've got about half an hour left, who would like to do a mock duel?" There were many cheers of agreement to this, causing the man to smile widely. "Okay then, I'm going to go around and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me?"

They moved through the crowd, matching up partners. Lockhart teamed Neville with Justin Finch-Fletchley, but Snape reached Harry and Hermione first.

"Time to split up the dream team, I think." He sneered. "Granger, you can partner up with Miss Bulstrode. Potter-"

Harry moved automatically toward Melody, as Hermione moved towards a Slytherin girl who reminded Harry of a picture he'd seen in _Holidays with Hags_. She was large and square and her heavy jaw jutted aggressively. Hermione gave her a weak smile that she did not return.

"I don't think so." Snape said oily, smiling coldly. "Mr. Malfoy, come over here. Let's see what you make of the famous Potter. And you, young Miss Granger - you can partner Miss Greengrass." Snape pointed towards a very attractive blonde girl, who instantly started walking over.

Melody smiled again at her new opponent, and was shocked to find that Daphne returned her tiny smile with one of her own, clearly far more friendly than Millicent.

"Professor Lockhart would it be okay if I picked the partners for the first duel?" Snape asked with a smirk.

"I see no problems with this Professor Snape." Lockhart said with a smile.

"In that case, Malfoy, Potter, up front now." Snape said as the two boys climbed up onto duelling platform.

"Okay then boys," Lockhart began with a smile, "The rules for this duel are simple, you may only use the three spells you learned tonight, you cannot use any other spells. This is to show if you can fight with these three. That out of the way, face your partners and bow."

"Scared Potter?" Malfoy mocked, as he and Harry barely inclined their heads, not taking their eyes off each other.

"Of you?" Harry replied with a scoff, "After what I went through at the end of last year? You're not even worth taking seriously." He smirked, knowing the entire act would rile the bleach blonde up.

"Now boys, wands at the ready!" Lockhart shouted, causing both boys to make the same movement as Lockhart and Snape did earlier. "When I count to three, cast your charms, the first to disarm or knock out your partner wins. Remember, only the spells you learn tonight, we don't want any accidents do we? Now, on three. One - two -"

The Malfoy Scion jumped the gun, hurling his spell at Harry before Lockhart had even finished pronouncing 'two'. This was not an unexpected move, and Harry smoothly dodged the spell by sidestepping it. "Is that the best you've got Malfoy, how pathetic." scoffed Harry, and then went on to bite him, "I thought you would be better at this, it seems I was right, you're nothing but talk."

Draco, now well and enraged, broke the rules and threw out several Cutting Curses, thin strips of red light that would have given Harry some pretty serious gashes if they'd landed, but Harry kept dodging and sidestepping the spells. Before long he shouted at Harry, "Are you so powerless and stupid that all you can do is dance around my spells?!"

Harry only smirked as he ducked under another widely cast Cutting Curse, "Oh no, I'm just showing everyone that you don't need spells to defend yourself, you have other ways to do so, dodging being one of them. Here's another one." Before Malfoy could say anything, he saw a blur coming at him. A flutter of robes and stars in his vision were all he managed to wrap his mind around before he was thrown to the floor.

"_Potter!" _Snape snarled, "Twenty points from Gryffindor for using Muggle Duelling."

"And what about Malfoy?" Harry demanded, "That punch aside I followed the rules, and even the punch wasn't specifically breaking any rule. Malfoy was the one throwing around potentially lethal magic."

"Mr. Potter is right Professor Snape," said Lockhart, "I told them to use the three Charms they were taught tonight, but Mr. Malfoy didn't, he used spells that he shouldn't. In fact, Mr. Potter using physical force wasn't against the rules, I never said they couldn't do such a thing, it was just assumed it wasn't allowed, so twenty points to Gryffindor for Harry's ingenuity and forty points from Slytherin for Mr. Malfoy's flagrant breaking of my rules."

Lockhart turned to the audience and began speaking, the students paying attention even more closely because he was using his Professor voice. "Mr. Potter was right, when duelling, you should know how to dodge and sidestep spells. There _will_ be times when Shield Charms won't be enough, and you will need to resort to physically dodging the offensive magic. We'll leave that for a later lesson, shall we?" He went on to say as he looked at Harry and Malfoy, "I want you two to try one more time at this. For the record, I am now banning Muggle fistfighting. If either of you goes beyond the limits i've set you'll earn yourself a solid week of detention. Duelling isn't a game, people can get hurt if they don't pay attention. Now take a few moments and we'll begin…"

Snape moved towards Malfoy, bent down, and whispered something in his ear with a smirk. Whatever it was made Malfoy smirk too. Harry had a sudden feeling of dread, but before could think about it Lockhart was once more speaking, "Okay boys, get in place and bow to your partner." Both Harry and Malfoy did so, "Now once again on the count of three, _only _the charms we learned _tonight _and nothing else. Now, one - two - three - go!" Lockhart shouted.

Malfoy raised his wand quickly and bellowed, _**"Serpensortia!"**_

The end of his wand exploded. Harry watched, aghast, as a long black snake shot out of it, fell heavily onto the floor between them, and raised itself, ready to strike. There were screams as the crowd backed swiftly away, clearing the floor.

"Don't move, Potter," Snape said lazily, clearly enjoying the sight of Harry standing motionless, eye to eye with the angry snake. "I'll get rid of it…"

Snape's spell wasn't verbalized, but it didn't matter as the bright yellow bolt of light missed anyway. It sizzled right passed the snake's eyes, irritating the creature enough to start mindlessly hissing at everything around it. Justin was, unfortunately, frozen stiff right next to the duelling platform and the snake decided he was to blame for it's hurting eyes and moved to attack.

Harry wasn't sure what made him do it. He wasn't even aware of deciding to do it. All he knew was that his legs were carrying him forward as though he was on auto-pilot and that he had shouted stupidly at the snake, _§ 'Ssstry away form him!'_ _§_ And miraculously - inexplicably - the snake stopped moving towards Justin, however its eyes were darting back and forth from Justin to Harry and back to Justin a few times. Harry wasn't sure if the snake would attack Justin or not by the looks the snake was leaning towards yes, so once again Harry called out to the snake _§ 'I sssaid ssstay away from him, come to me and I'll sssee if I can sssend you back where you come from or take you sssomewhere sssafe.' § _Harry didn't know much about the spell that brought the snake here, but if it was summoned from somewhere else, as opposed to being summoned from nothing, he would return it to it's home.

_§ 'Ok Ssspeaker, I would like to go home,' § _The snake hissed. Revealing to Harry that the snake was brought here from somewhere else, something Harry put back in his mind for later use. It could be useful spell to have, but it would potentially be limited if you could only summon a snake from so far away. He would need to research the spell and see what it could do and its limits.

He looked up at Justin, grinning, expecting to see the other boy looking relieved, or puzzled, or even grateful - but certainly not angry and scared.

"What do you think you're playing at?!" He shouted, and before Harry could say anything, Justin had turned and stormed out of the hall. Harry had no idea what the hell he meant; the snake was angry and if he hadn't calmed it down the snake would have attacked Justin. As he looked around, he saw shocked and fearful looks coming from a large number of people, mostly magical raised, so he must have done something that set off one of their many fears of the unknown.

He did notice the twins were looking at him in awe, but that knowledge wasn't exceptionally unique among the mass of students reacting negatively.

As Harry was looking around Snape stepped forward and waved his wand, causing the snake to vanish in a small puff of black smoke. Snape, too, was looking at Harry in an unexpected way; It was a shrewd and calculating look, one Harry didn't like it.

Lockhart broke the silence as his furious voice echoed off the halls. "Two hundred points from Slytherin for use of a lethal spell after I very specifically banned it's use and detention for three months! Furthermore, you are henceforth banned from the Duelling Club for the rest of the year."

The students in the hall looked at Lockhart in shock, no one had ever seen the jovial man angry before. Draco's smug expression was wiped away instantly with indignant outrage, already muttering about his father hearing of this.

"Mr. Potter, you may wish to leave. I will be dismissing the club shortly." Lockhart said discreetly to Harry, perfectly aware that his performance had taken the spotlight off the raven haired boy, at least for the moment.

Harry didn't waste time and quickly and quietly left the hall. Hermione met him halfway and latched onto him, staring him out of the hall with Melody and his friends hurrying alongside them. True to his word, Lockhart made a few announcements about when the next club meeting would be before dismissing his charges.

Ron made his opinion known rather bluntly as he spat, "I should have known." Before splitting from the group.

The group was silent as Hermione lead Harry, and thus everyone else, into an abandoned classroom. Before they entered the room though Su spoke up, revealing her own opinion, which matched everyone else's in regards to Ron's behaviour. "Expected."

As they all sat down at the slightly dusty desks, before Harry could ask what was going on, Fred's awed voice cut him off. "How come you never mentioned…"

"…You were a Parselmouth?" George finished, equally awed.

"I'm a what?" Harry asked, confused.

"_A Parselmouth!" _Hermione exclaimed with a snap of her fingers. "You can talk to snakes!"

"I know." Harry answered simply. "I mean, that's only the second time I've ever done it. I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once - long story - but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I sort of set it free without meaning to - that was before I knew I was a wizard-"

"A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?" Melody parroted in confusion.

"What did you expect? _'Let me out of this glass cage you filthy hairless monkey so that I may wring the life from you!'_?" Harry deadpanned. "I bet loads of people here can do it." He played it off.

"Oh no, it's actually quite a rare talent." Susan cut in worriedly. "This could be bad for you Harry."

"Why would it be bad for me? What's wrong with everyone? Listen, if I hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin-"

"Oh, that's what you said to it?" Hannah asked.

"What do you mean? You were all there - you heard me -"

"We heard you speaking Parseltongue," Cedric explained. "Snake language. None of us understood what you said, to everyone there you could have been saying anything - no wonder Justin panicked, you sounded like you were egging the snake on or something - it was cool yes, but at the same time creepy, you know. Now we know what you said, I'll try and calm him down."

Harry gaped at him. "I spoke a different language? But - I didn't realize - how can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it? It just sounds like english with exaggerated S's to me."

Hermione and the others shook their head, they looked a bit worried at what happened. Harry couldn't see why they looked so worked up.

"Does someone want to tell me what's wrong with stopping a massive snake from biting off Justin's head?" Harry demanded, growing annoyed at being out of the loop. Melody was the only other person here who looked puzzled, but that wasn't shocking considering she was the newest. "What does it matter how I did it as long as Justin doesn't have to join the Headless Hunt?"

"It matters because being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent." Hermione lectured.

Harry's eyes widened and he made a small, "Oh." sound and he finally connected the pieces.

Susan laid things out further, "And now the whole school's going to think you're his descendent."

"All things considered it's possible I could be. It's not like I've looked up my family tree recently, or ever." Harry admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

"Anyway, you should keep your head down for a while." Katie cautioned after several moments of silent thought. "People might start thinking of you as an up and coming Dark Wizard; Parseltongue is considered Dark Magic and anyone who speaks it is a Dark Wizard."

"Human nature." Su cut in, sounding vaguely disgusted. "Be careful." The petite girl said seriously. Considering she was speaking more than one word Harry practically memorized the occasion on the spot.

"Su's right, watch your back." Angelina supported. "We know better, but others won't take this so well. Keep your head down and do nothing to drew attention towards yourself. It should blow over eventually, but until that happens the rumours are going to get really nasty. You all know how sadistic the gossip around her can get."

They all winced, having heard some truly vicious rumours about people that really didn't deserve them. Even Melody had heard her share. Melody decided to lighten the mood, or at least try to. "There no point in huddling ourselves away. If we just stay in her for the rest of the day they'll have won."

The gathered children agreed with her declaration wholeheartedly and steadily trickled out of the room. The Hufflepuffs left first, making sure to tell Harry again they would do their best to spread the truth to their House. The twins were next, rapidly exchanging half sentences as they planned out what pranks they would be able to commit if they had the ability to talk to snakes. Hermione followed behind, announcing that she wanted to know more about this Parseltongue business and beating a hasty retreat to the Library. The Crimson Vixens gave Harry a reassuring hug before taking their turn, promising Harry they would stick by him no matter what. Su gave Harry a nod and a look, assuring him that her loyalty was just as strong as theirs.

When it was all said and done Harry and Melody were left alone. As always, Melody jumped on the opportunity. Wrapping her arms around him she whispered hotly, "It's going to be really difficult for you soon Master. Remember, your Apprentice is always here to help you vent your pent up anger."

Harry, having grown used to the girl's habits, merely grinned as he made a move of his own. Twirling the younger girl around he pushed her forward onto the nearest desk, one hand pulling her back by the hair and the other hiking up her skirt as he bent over her, returning her sexy promises with one of his own. "Of that, I have no doubt. An offer I plan to take you up on frequently. In fact, I expect you in my bed, every night that you're able until I tell you otherwise."

Melody ground her panty clad crotch into the bulge she felt in his slacks, moaning excitedly at the order. "Fuck me, please!" She gasped, terribly aroused by Harry's earlier humiliation of Draco.

"No." Harry said bluntly, freeing his erection from his pants and grinding it into the hollow between her thighs.

"Why? I'm begging for it, please!" Melody whined, her form shifting as a reflex to Harry pumping his length between her thighs. If she wasn't already busy she would be annoyed, or possibly aroused, that her monster form was only ever used for carnal pleasure these days. Aside from when she'd first showed him she hadn't used it more than a handful of times that didn't involve using her soft fur to get her Master off.

"Are you questioning me?" Harry hissed, pulling her head back further.

Melody hesitated, biting her lip as he stopped thrusting and held her in place. "Y… Yes." She finally answered.

"Good." He replied, casually pumping his hips again, his free hand gripping her tail. "I don't want a mindless, unquestioning toy. You're my Apprentice, given that position because you can think, never assume that I will be angry at you for questioning my actions, as long as it's in the right place." He explained. "As for why I haven't taken you… well I don't have a real reason, I just don't feel I'm ready. I could fuck you right now, I could move your panties to the side and bury myself to the hilt in your pussy in less time than it would take to repeat this sentence, but my heart wouldn't be in it. You deserve better than for me to half-ass it."

Melody's growing insecurities about his lack of forwardness being her fault were soothed by his words, her face growing warm as she was given evidence of just how much he cared for her. "I'll wait as long as you need, Master." she declared warmly, smiling back at him. "But know this, I don't care if you half-ass it, I'm here for whenever you need a good fuck."

"Thank you." He replied, smiling genuinely as he let go of her. "Now get on your knees, we don't have a lot of time and I can imagine you want to start sucking on me for as long as possible."

Melody's smile was far from innocent, unlike her tone, "You know me so well, Master."

_**o0OoO0o**_

_7th of October:_

A few days later, as expected, there were rumours already spreading about him being the next Dark Lord. It was the reason why You-Know-Who went after him as a child, to stop him before he took You-Know-Who's place as Dark Lord. Sadly, an unforeseen exodus happened in Harry's Study Group were slowly backing out of it. On the Hufflepuff front, Cedric was able to convince half of them that Harry was trying to help, but the other half - and Justin himself - were stubborn and wouldn't listen, hanging onto the belief that Harry was goading the snake.

As for Ron, Harry honestly thought that he was rebuilding his friendship with his first friend. At times it was… trying, as Ron tended to whine about their study habits, and Harrys insistence on allowing the other Houses to join (something that earned him quite a few indignant glares). But Harry still hoped that Ron would be able to work through it and he would have his first friend back. Their friendship was currently hanging on by a thread though, so that seemed unlikely.

Harry and his close friends who weren't afraid of him being about to speak to snakes were in the back of the library keeping a low profile and doing their homework. The only people that weren't there were Cedric, the Crimson Vixens and Melody.

It was about fifteen minutes into doing their homework when Melody entered the library, and to the shock to the others she wasn't alone. She was with Luna Lovegood. The two were happily conversing about, once they got close enough to be heard, magic and how people viewed it. Melody was happily sharing her beliefs about how it was a shame that more people didn't dig deeper while Luna nodded happily along with her.

"Hi Mel, I see you brought a guest with you," Harry said with a smile, "Hey Luna, I hope you're fine."

"Yeah Luna and I have been friends since we helped her a week ago." Melody revealed with a smile of her own, "and I thought to bring her to our Group since she doesn't seem to care about the snake business."

Luna shook her head, cheerfully stating, "Oh no, I don't get what all the fuss is about. It's not like snakes talk about taking over the world." She looked suspiciously around before she leaned in and whispered, "That's what Owl's do!"

Harry laughed, finding the mental image of Supreme Commander Hedwig with a swagger stick in her mouth furiously barking out commands and slapping the stack against the map she'd set up with the attack plan on it, directing her troops to take over the US for their plentiful livestock. So many pigs, so much bacon…

"Happy to have you on board, please, take a seat." He gestured towards where Melody normally sat, where two convenient seats were free for the two.

It was about an hour later, and by this time the rest of Harry close friends joined them. It was about this time when Harry looked up and saw Cho walked into the library and walk towards them. As she got to their table, Harry asked coldly, "What do you want, Chang." He didn't forgive how she treated Luna.

"I came to apologize to Lovegood." Cho said immediately. "I know I shouldn't have taken it out on her but I was frustrated. I just hit the age when my family thinks I'm old enough to deal with my own marriage offers."

"But you're only what thirteen," A confused Hermione interrupted, "you're not old enough to marry!"

"In the Muggle World you would be right, Hermione Granger was it?" Cho asked, to which Hermione nodded, "In the Magical World the practice never died out because people want to preserve their lines. While I'm not the most popular of choices due to my 'filthy foreigner blood' I can still trace my family line back longer than most of the English Pureblood families combined." Cho joked, a vindictive smirk on her attractive face.

"That's… that's wrong though!" Hermione insisted.

Before she could build up any steam Harry suddenly cut her off. "Hermione, we've talked about this. We're in the Magical World, not the Muggle one, things are different here."

The bushy haired girl deflated, sighing in exasperation as she caught what she was about to do. "Right. It's irritating, but at least it's a logical practice, at least from their perspective." She admitted with a clearer head.

"Thanks Harry, I'm just lucky my father delights in watching me deny them. Unfortunately that means I'm forced to write the denial letter, which he insists upon reading. My family doesn't have any pre existing contracts so I wasn't forced to accept any of them. I really love that my parents want me to marry for love, instead of forcing me into one to further their own interests, but the downside to that is the wording needs to be ironclad or someone could claim that I accepted their proposal because I wasn't clear enough. I know it wasn't acceptable for me to bully Lovegood, but with my class load from Runes, Arithmancy and Care on top of the constant letters… I chose the worst possible outlet for my stress."

Harry looked somewhat doubtful about that, but that only lasted until Angelina put her thoughts forward, "I know where she's coming from, I had to start doing that a few years back. Remember how I was back then, Alicia, Katie?" She asked her fellow Chasers.

"Oh yeah, she was a real bitch for a few months." Alicia revealed impishly.

Katie smirked and made her own addition. "She was snapping at everyone. I'm a half-blood, and my father's a Pureblood by only a few generations with comparatively little money, power, business investment or anything of interest to other Purebloods. So I didn't have any of those problems." Katie explained with a grateful expression.

"Same for me, my family didn't have any already active, so I got to choose." Alicia explained. "I only had a few, so it was never much of an issue for me."

"Lucky Bitch." Angelina muttered, "My dad works in the Ministry, so there were quite a few people who wanted to marry me so they could ask favours from my dad. I still had _loads _of them to wade through and when Cho means you need exact wording she isn't kidding, they were a bitch to do."

Harry felt sorry for the girls, but at least it was just a hassle and not a life ruining event. Hearing about this did make him wonder about his other magically raised female friends. "So what about you four?" asked Harry, as he looked at Susan, Hannah, Su and Luna.

Hannah was the first to speak, "I'm in the same boat as Katie." She said with a proud smile, "My father has a good business going, but it isn't as good as others out there. No active contracts, so I shouldn't have any problems like the others."

Su was next. The entire group turned their attention to her, since this was a question she couldn't hope to answer in a short reply. "Father is a highly respected official. He deals with the contracts from home, while I deal with the English contracts. One existing contract activated upon my birth, but it has been dealt with."

"Dealt with?" Harry asked curiously.

Su's calm expression showed a hint of something; irritation with a tinge of smug satisfaction. "Yes. My suitor decided I was weak, vulnerable, due to my physical stature and tried to lay his hands upon me. I decided he didn't deserve to keep them."

Harry was surprised more Su's vindictive little smirk then he was by the groups female members applauding, which was promptly shushed by the Madame Pince.

Luna spoke next, her normally cheerful attitude still present despite the situation. "I don't get very many, though the Lovegood family is quite old. My mother prefers to deal with them because she enjoys throwing them into the fireplace and claiming they never arrived. And unless they can prove we got them, we don't have to do anything and they can't do anything to us."

"I like that method." Harry blurted.

Hermione patted him on the back, sending him a sly smile. "Of course you would."

"What?" Harry asked innocently, only prompting the group to laugh harder.

Susan spoke next after the noise had settled down, "My aunt is still dealing with them, but with her job already being busy, she's the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," She clarified for those who didn't know. "So I expect they'll be shunted off to me sooner rather than later to save her some work. My aunt suspects that there's at least one active contract for me to fulfil. If it exists, I'll be able to look at it when I turn thirteen next year. If it's inescapable I'll be married before I turn seventeen."

The group was silent, the mood now slightly depressed at their friends possible fate. "Well at least there's a chance it doesn't exist, so it's not set in stone or anything."

Su added her own thoughts, slipping back into her normal speech patterns. "Fight."

Susan smiled brightly at them, her mood lightened a good deal. "Thanks you two. I'm not sure if we have a law in place to do such a thing in Magical Britain, Su, but I think I'll be sending a letter to my aunt to ask very soon."

Before any of them could say more a beautiful blonde in Slytherin robes came up to them and asked, "Excuse me, but may I talk to Potter alone please."

"And you are?" Harry inquired.

"Forgive me, I'm Heiress Daphne Greengrass." Daphne answered. She could have almost hit herself for forgetting her manners, she was raised to be a proper Pureblood, and here she was not following decorum. "And I would like to talk to you, Heir Potter, about something private." Those who had Pureblood parents, or an aunt in Susan's case , gasped or reacted in some manner of shock. Daphne's use to titles was a very good indicator she wanted to talk about something serious.

"Not to be rude, but what would a Slytherin want to talk to me about?" asked Harry, then realizing where he heard the name before, "And the infamous Ice Princess at that?" He questioned further as he finally placed her name.

"_Harry!" _The Pureblood raised children hissed at him.

"His reaction is understandable, I understand his reasoning." Daphne waved it off. "The louder factions of Slytherin have made the entire school distrustful of all of us. I was going to suggest we move a few tables down; out of casual hearing distance, but close enough that you all can see I'm not doing anything untoward. Is this acceptable, Heir Potter?"

Harry's interest was peaked, judging by his friends' reaction this was apparently sort of a big deal, so he nodded and stood up, "Alright Greengrass, we'll talk. I hope some part of this chat will involve you telling me why you're calling me Heir Potter."

Daphne smiled to herself, this was easier than she thought it would be. Potter didn't hate Slytherins on principle at least, something she wouldn't have blamed him for but would have made her job difficult. "Thank you Heir Potter."She said simply.

With that Daphne and Harry moved down a few table while Harry's friends were left whispering to each other about what was going on.

_**o0OoO0o**_

"Explain." Harry said simply, he might be interested in what the 'Ice Princess' had to say, but that didn't mean he had all day to do so, he had other things he could be doing, Melody, for instance, was one of the things he could be doing.

Seeing that Harry wasn't going to humor her if she tried to beat around the bush, Daphne started, "Since I can safely assume you don't know about your status as the Potter Heir I think it would be best to start there. First off, tell me, do you know _anything _about your Heritage?"

Since she didn't phrase or say it condescendingly, Harry had no reason to get snarky. "No, probably not in the context you're alluding to." He answered easily. "All I know is that I've got a Family Vault I can look in on when I become seventeen, and have a few seats on the Wizengamot, which I don't know much about." An annoyed look crossed his face as he muttered, more to himself, "I really do need to research the Wizengamot, I keep meaning to but it slips my mind."

"Simplistic, but not a wrong answer per se." She answered. "The truth is the Potter family is exceptionally old and had quite a bit of political power. Your family has a knack for being in the right place at the right time and having the guts to do what they need to do. It's earned a lot of enemies, but it's also earned more gold and even Wizengamot seats than any other single family. You're a very powerful person, not just magically, but politically as well."

"And you wish to use this power how…?" Harry guessed.

She didn't bat an eye at his assumption, considering his assumption was correct she moved on to confirmation. "Protection."

"Huh?" He blurted at the sudden answer.

"The Slytherin House is becoming dangerous for me and my friends." Daphne explained to Harry honestly. She knew if she lied to him she wouldn't get his protection and a few other things she wanted from Harry. "You see, the Malfoys are an old family, and have accumulated quite a bit of political power. Without someone to stop them, namely you and the Longbottoms, the next oldest family still around, they have free run over England. The Longbottoms have Dame Longbottom holding the seat and votes, but unless it affects her directly she usually abstains.

"The point is, Draco's family has a lot of power, most of the older Slytherins do as he says because they fear what his father would do to them. Not nearly as many as he would like, but that's what he gets for being so whiny, blustering on about getting you in trouble all the time. Frankly most have just stopped caring and ignore him. However, he is swaying the impressionable younger years, with his preaching of the 'Purebloods are best' dogma and appealing to their juvenile delusions." She explained. "He's getting older and more arrogant, wanting to prove he's in control. Predictably, he's putting pressure on the neutral factions, of which my friends and I are a part of; this is where you come in. Being seen with you will give us a measure of protection. Draco may be a moron, but the rest of our House know it's a bad idea to earn the ire of the Potters."

Harry was silent for a few moments as he worked the pros and cons over in his mind; so far they were equal. "You get protection and whatever else comes from being friends with me, benefits I will admit I'm mostly ignorant of, But if you get all this, what do I get?" Harry confronted her, "I'm a Parseltongue, and people already think I'm a Dark Wizard or soon will be at any rate. It wouldn't look good if I suddenly become friends with a few Slytherins; makes it far easier than i'm comfortable with for the idiots that fill the larger portion of the beds in this school to jump to conclusions. My plan is to keep my head down until they all move onto the next big gossip bait, said plan is shot if I take you and your friends in."

Daphne smiled; it seemed that there was more to Harry then meet the eye, it may have just been mostly based around survival, but Harry had a Slytherin side. She really had her work cut out for her in one of her goals then. "Aside from teaching you all about the Wizengamot, I know of a mental discipline called Occlumency. I can teach it to to you and your group. This would grant them a number of abilities; better memory recall, easier memorization, the ability to guard their minds from those who can use Legilimency, a skill that allows the user to gain access to their victims mind. In fact, I know the basics of Legilimency, so I could teach you, and only you, what I know." She trailed off, her lips quirking a miniscule degree as she relished in the feeling of getting her way.

Harry froze at the existence of such an ability. He utterly despised the thought of anyone getting into his head, an opinion he was sure he wasn't alone in. He quickly promised himself to learn to protect himself mentally as he began calculating the new deal.

"I would also be more than happy to teach you about how to wield that political power I was talking about before, not just about the who's who of the Wizengamot." She added.

That pretty much sealed it for Harry. Come what may, Daphne's offer was just too good to let the school's increased ire make him refuse. "Alright, welcome to the Study Group. Well, those of us who aren't afraid of the fact that I can hiss better than most." He joked as he extended a hand.

Daphne inwardly smirk, she got a small part of what she wanted and now she would need to work on Harry to get the rest. But for now…"Well put, but don't think we'll be turned away by it, Blaise may even find it attractive…" She said with her first show of solid emotion as she smiled mischievously.

Aside from a brief confused look - which disappeared he met Blaize and became aware of his preference in partners - the rest of the evening was spent doing homework and getting to know their newest additions.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_31st of October:_

A month later Harry was quite pleased with how the Slytherin and Ravenclaws had integrated into the group. Cedric, in true Hufflepuff fashion, had been the first to welcome the Slytherins in with just Harry's word to back them up. Blaize found a fast friend in the older Hufflepuff, while Tracey seemed to drift from person to person, testing the waters with them all, but never quite finding the correct person for her to bond with in a close friendship. Daphne herself stuck by his side, a position Harry was happy to encourage due to her lessons in mental defense - and private lessons in offense, which were going comparatively slowly.

Blaize being openly gay was a bit of a change, and Harry was at first a bit uncomfortable when Blaize started hitting on him. He had backed off quickly and assured Harry it was all in good fun, it was just the way he was around people he trusted. Being sheltered in the Slytherin House, had lead him t o being rather repressed. So after a while Harry just got used to it; it made Blaize happy so he didn't mind so much.

Harry was interested to find that, while Blaize's tastes were generally discouraged in the Magical World - though the older families like the Malfoys who followed the old ways greatly discouraged it. Being gay meant that they couldn't continue their family line, and so any men that felt they were attracted to other men didn't admit it publicly, lest they be disowned. There were a few that would beat the people that were found out to be gay, sometimes to their death. Luckily the number of people with this belief were dying out, the families with children that still believe in the old way in Hogwarts were all in Slytherin, hence why Blaize was having problems.

Blaize wasn't obligated to continue the Zabini name because he had an older sister. Blaise had confided in them that he sometimes wondered if his infamous older sister even existed though, because she was constantly hidden away, possibly hiding from their mother, whose husbands were known to have… _accidents_.

Female/female relationships were also equally discouraged, unless the two women were married to the same man - in which case it was encouraged. Harry chuckled at the double standards, but really wasn't all that surprised.

Occlumency was a slow skill to learn, especially at first, but they were getting a solid grasp on the basics and were already seeing some minor improvement in their mental prowess. As it turned out, Susan, Blaize and Tracey already knew Occlumency, but had neglected to mention it - as it never really came up. However, Susan had learned it when she was very little and hadn't kept very up to date with it. So with four instructors, after a refresher lesson for Susan, they started making some steady progress. Harry, Hermione and Melody already knew how to meditate, from their own training, so they could start on the basics right away.

Harry, Hermione and Melody could all feel when Daphne was using Legilimency on them - Daphne had to make a vow not to tell anyone what she found in their minds, and not use it against them before she could use Legilimency on them. So it was decided that the four of them learn the more advanced Occlumency; making mindscapes to hold their memories and base their defenses.

Melody hadn't yet decided what she wanted her mindscapes to look like, but wanted it to be something space related. She'd already build a generic space station and a vast expanse of nothing but twinkling stars, but had hit a bit of a block on what to do next.

Hermione decided on a grand library with thousands of books and secret rooms, and it's own restricted section. She had already built the layout of the library, now she had to work on the books and their shelves. The plan was to store her memories in the books, but keep her important memories within the restricted section. Her darkest dreams and secrets would be stored in one of the secret rooms, opened via pulling certain book out in a certain order. As for the defensive part of her library, the building itself being incredibly hard to break into, and the thousands of booby trapped books she'd been creating every session certainly didn't hurt.

Harry was pleasantly surprised to find that he already had one. At first Daphne was shocked how hard it was for her to enter Harry's mind, it seemed that he had natural shields, and it took over fifteen minutes and all of her effort just to break in. Once she slipped inside she was instantly drenched in sweat as she appeared in the centre of a cavern that looked something straight out of the christian version of hell. Fire, brimstone, and lava were everywhere, and in the centre, there was a small island surrounded by lava. There was only one thing on the island, that being a throne that looks like it was made out of charred bone, red silk cushions and some kind of red leather for accents. Despite the unbearable heat Daphne pushed on and began exploring the tunnels, only to find the entire place was built like a maze with strange red vines creeping around that lunged forward to try and impale her whenever she got close with bulbs that fired some kind of thorn at her dripping with a venom that ate right through the cave floor. She swore she saw a black haired, green eyed girl in one of the caves, but when she did a double take the girl wasn't there - so she didn't say anything.

Since Harry already had a solid mindscape, all he had to do was to sort out his memories. Daphne guessed it would only take a few months, at the most. She also suggested he build more traps, but the vines, plants and insane heat of the place would exhaust most attackers that even made it passed his shields, so it wasn't a top priority.

As for the Ravenclaws; Cho, after dealing the the denial letters that she had to send out, had become much more friendly. She helped to make sure Luna was fine and no more bullies popped up to bother her. She dropped by occasionally, but never really bonded with anybody in the group. Harry was just glad she seemed to be smarter than the rest of the school.

Harry found Luna a bit strange, yes, but she was lonely and it was readily apparent with a little searching that all she wanted was a friend, and once he, Hermione and Melody earned that place in her life her cheerful demeanor became a lot more genuine. While this was a refreshing change, and helped combat the rest of the school's expected increased animosity towards them, many still found it hard to take the girl seriously when she occasionally went off on tangents about creatures none of them had ever heard of. Harry and Melody both expressed interest in learning about the various species - even if they weren't real they were still interesting to hear about - but everyone else politely declined whenever Luna asked if they wanted to know more about what she was talking about.

The increased camaraderie between Harry and Luna allowed him to ask more personal questions, or rather, Luna felt more comfortable opening up around him. It wasn't long before Harry found out why she acted the way she did; she saw her father die. Her mother was a spell crafter, and shortly after Luna turned nine she was sitting in on one of her mother's experiments - testing a new spell when it backfired somehow. As spells tended to do most often when they went wrong, it exploded. Part of their house had collapsed, trapping both Luna and Selene inside. Xeno, Luna's father, had been in his study in the section of the house that remained standing and rushed to go help them. The man had managed to exceed his limits and haul the debris out of the way to get them both free, but at the last second had been forced to shove his wife out of the way when a section of the roof had given out, getting crushed beneath the slab in the process. Upon seeing her father's death Luna wasn't able to deal with it and acted up a bit. Thanks to her mother, Luna wasn't as bad as she could have been, like if her father had lived instead. Xeno was a kind and caring person, but he was a bit crazy already, couldn't handle a large amount of responsibility and had never taken grief well.

To no one's surprise, after Luna had offhandedly mentioned being bullied again the incidents came to a sharp and sudden stop within a few days. Her would be bullies would go missing for a few hours, only to reappear completely pale and very respectful to the blond waif; giving her stolen items back right away. It was never mentioned around the blond that these people would not look Harry in the eye.

Some had - while Luna wasn't around - voiced concerns about his methods being too harsh, but Harry pointed out that, as useless as the staff was about disciplining those that deserved it, the bullies would only have points taken from them and possibly, if the infraction was bad enough and there was solid evidence, they would get thrown into a detention or two. Neither of these two punishments meant they would stop their bullying, it just meant they would be more sneaky about it. Harry's way guaranteed they _knew _there would be consequences to their actions.

He refrained from admitting there had been a few slow learners among the House of the Wise and he had needed to actually carry out his threats. You wouldn't think an old sock and a bar of soap would be enough to cause five teenage boys to burst into tears, but that was the end result.

Harry found himself thinking of the future benefits of being such close friends with a girl who had voiced her desire to follow in her very successful mother's footsteps in spell creation, despite the accident. It would be awhile before this desire bore any real fruit, but he found himself with an abundance of time and made it clear that if she ever needed anything for experiments she should just ask.

Ron had spent the majority of the month flip flopping between hating them all and begrudgingly joining them. Hs study habits, or at least his behaviour while in the group, was also very inconsistent. One day he'd be eager to learn and get along with everyone fairly well, and then other times he would snap at the Slytherins any time they talked, and refuse to even open his books because nobody was willing to all but do his homework for him. It was all very abrupt and sudden, unnatural even, but Ron's behaviour had always been pretty hypocritical.

It was now Halloween, and Harry and his close friends were coming back from Nearly Headless Nick's 500th Deathday Party. A few days ago, Harry was walking back from Gryffindor training sessions for their first Quidditch Game; it was hell and made him wonder once again why he decided to get on the team in the first place. Captain Oliver Wood was a mad man, no matter the weather, he would train the team as hard as possible. The first day of training seemed to set the mood quite well; it was pouring out, any sensible person would be inside where it was dry and warm, but Oliver wanted to train, so they trained.

They also secretly planned to smother him with a pillow. Though that may have just been Harry.

When they finished Harry was heading back to the tower to get a wash when he was 'caught' by Mrs. Norris, the skeletal gray cat who was used by the caretaker, Argus Filch, as a sort of deputy in his endless battle against students. Despite not breaking any rules at all Harry was hauled back to the man's office.

He wasn't sure what the bitter man was going to do, but before he could open his mouth Harry heard a huge bang above them and the next thing he knew Filch was roaring about Peeves, the school poltergeist. The man stormed out of his office, his cat hot on his heels.

Harry waited a moments to make sure he was safe, looking at his surroundings as he did so. There was an envelope that stood out on the man's desk. Harry knew he shouldn't have looked at it, but his curiosity got the better of him. Contained within was basically the magical version of a self help book, or maybe just a scam. It was a series of pamphlets about people without magic, Squibs, learning how to use magic via magical foci the pamphlets were selling for exorbitant prices. Harry could easily make the connection, Filch was a Squib, which explained his bitter outlook on life. Harry wondered why Dumbledore would hire such a man like him, but quickly decided the man had some kind of grudge against children or something, because he hired Snape too.

Filch returned, but was too exhausted and covered in some kind of barf green slime to deal with Harry, so he dismissed the Gryffindor without any kind of punishment.

On his way back Harry bumped into Nick. The Nearly-Headless Ghost informed Harry that he was the one that sent Peeves to make the commotion. The two talked for a bit and after a while Harry agreed to go to Nick's Deathday party in gratitude for helping him out. Harry was also just interested in the idea, it sounded like something worth checking out on a day he would have rather avoided anything having to do with his parents. After requesting additional invitations for his friends, which a delighted Nick happily provided, they parted ways.

Harry found himself embraced by a giddy Luna when he pitched the idea at next study session. Apparently she was already going and had been hesitant about inviting the others. Her worries were unfounded, everyone seemed to find the party worth checking out and agreed to come. Luna did suggest they have something to eat first, since the only food there would be incredibly rotten and likely give them terrible tummy aches. The Weasley Twins came through for everyone when they revealed they knew how to get into the Hogwarts kitchen.

It was hard for Hermione to hold her tongue when she found the House Elves making food for upcoming feast, but she remembered what Harry told her the past summer and really looked at the Elves. They all seemed very happy with what they were doing, chatting with one another as they worked, not at all like the mistreated creatures she'd made them out to be in her head. After eating some food, the group went to the Death Party.

Turns out Luna's advice was a very good idea, because every bit of the food was rotten and smelt horrible. When they asked Nick why this was he revealed that Ghosts couldn't really taste the food, but the closer anything was to 'death' the more of an… echo, of what the food once tasted like they could feel. Nick apologized for the lackluster explanation, but there really wasn't the right words to explain it to a living being.

So, as long as they stayed well away from the food table, the party itself was very interesting. The ghosts were more than happy to regale the students with tales of their life, and hours passed in what could even be considered an unofficial Magical History lesson. Like all good things though, the party eventually came to an end. Luna pointed out that if they hurried they could probably catch the serving of dessert in the Great Hall, so they set off on their way after a final goodbye to Nick.

_§ "… rip… tear… kill…" §_

Harry froze, stumbling to a halt, looking around for the whispered voice.

"Harry, what're you-?" Hermione began as she noticed him stop.

_§ "… sssoo hungry… for ssso long…" §_

"I hear a really quiet voice, can anyone here it?" Harry asked.

_§ "… kill … time to kill…" §_

"I thought i heard something that sounded like running water, or maybe hissing." Luna mentioned, looking around too.

Harry didn't hear her, his ears were too busy tracking the whispers; they were moving, upwards. How could it be moving upward? Was it a phantom, or some other kind of being that could bypass solid objects?

"This way!" He exclaimed as he began to run up the stairs, into the Entrance Hall. It was no good hoping to hear anything here, the babble of talk from the Halloween feast was echoing out of the Great Hall. Harry sprinted up the marble staircase to the first floor, his friends clattering behind him, wondering what was going on.

"Is it closer?" Melody asked.

Harry strained his ears. Distantly, from the floor above, and growing fainter still, he heard the voice: _§ "… I sssmell blood… I SSSMELL BLOOD!" § _

Without a word Harry took off running again, flying up the next flight of stairs two at a time, trying to listen over his own pounding footsteps. He slid to a stop when he got to the top of the stairs and the voice quickly fled.

"Harry, what was that all about?" Susan panted, wiping sweat off her face. "I couldn't hear anything…"

But Hermione gave a sudden gasp, pointing down the corridor. "Look!" She exclaimed in shock.

Something was shining on the wall ahead. They approached slowly, squinting through the darkness. Foot-high words had been daubed on the wall between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by the flaming torches.

_**The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. **_

_**Enemies of the Heir, beware!**_

"What's that?" Su wondered.

A sudden splashing caused them to jump, only to relax when they looked down and found the area flooded. Ignoring the water they began inching close to the message again, eyes fixed on a dark shadow beneath it. All three of them realized what it was at once, and leapt backward with a splash; Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat, was hanging by her tail from the torch bracket. She was stiff as a board, her eyes wide and staring.

For a few seconds, they didn't move. Then Daphne said, "Let's get out of here."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." He agreed.

"Shouldn't we try and help the cat?" Hermione spoke up.

Daphne shook her head, "Trust me, we don't want to be found here."

Thanks to Daphne's warning, the group had enough warning to get away before the incoming flood of people leaving the Great Hall arrived. Draco's voice could be heard echoing off the walls as they quietly filed down the nearest staircase.

"You're next, Mudbloods!"

They saved their own theories on who had done whatever was wrong with Mrs. Norris until they were well out of earshot of everyone else. The idea that Draco was guilty was briefly considered, prompted by his bragging they heard, but it was quickly dismissed. Draco was far too young to know spells of that strength, even if he did have the guts to finally act instead of just strut and brag it certainly wouldn't be something so severe.

Then there was the voice that Harry could hear that no one else could. Luna pointed out it was possible it was a snake of some kind. Sadly, beyond that logical guess they had nothing to work with, so it was decided to split up and go back to their Common Rooms.

_**TO BE CONTINUED!**_

_**Authors Note:**_ Here's the next chapter of Vulcan, I thank you for reading and I hope that you keep on reading and enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing this. Please let me know what you think of the story, as I would like to know what you think of it…

Now I know I shocked some/most of you by making Lockhart good at duelling, but my belief is that he would _need _have some skill in it. Not everyone he Obliviates would just let themselves be mind wiped. Not only was he an Obliviator, so would specialize in stealthy and quick fighting, but he also _did _travel around the world to get the stories from people. If the Magical World has taught us anything, it's that the Magical World is dangerous.

I would like to thank my Beta Reader for this part:

Harry laughed, finding the mental image of Supreme Commander Hedwig with a swagger stick in her mouth furiously barking out commands and slapping the stack against the map she'd set up with the attack plan on it, directing her troops to take over the US for their plentiful livestock. So many pigs, so much bacon…

As I found it really funny… and loved that part a lot, thanks Slice.

SAND-FORTRESS OF DOOM

By Cody Everett

"And that is how you make a sandcastle!" Hermione's cheery voice said from where she sat in the sand, a basic looking sandcastle in front of her.

It was a few days after his second encounter with Gabrielle and Harry was hanging out with Hermione and Melody on the beach. With nothing better to do, the siblings had decided to teach Harry how to build a sandcastle. Hermione's sandcastle was just a couple walls, with circular towers. Melody had decided on more of a moral support role from her position a few feet away, buried in the sand. (And shaped like a very curvaceous mermaid)

Giving the castle a curious look, Harry 'hmmed' as he said, "I think I get it. You just pack the sand together into shapes and then sculpt it into what you want, right?"

Hermione nodded her head. "Right."

'Hmmm-ing' once again, Harry looked to a clear space in front of him as Hermione went back to her castle. If she'd stayed facing Harry for a few more moments she would have seen the maniacal glint in Harry's eye.

_**- A Couple Hours Later -**_

Putting the finishing touches on her now elaborate castle, Hermione turned to see how Harry was doing with his. She wasn't expecting much, as it was his first time making one, so she was understandably surprised when she turned around. Her jaw dropped as she took in the looming form, unable to make words. From where was still laying, Melody turned her head and had much the same expression.

Where once there had been nothing but sand, there was now an intimidating fortress, as big as a house. The large gates were decorated with beasts and from the walls jutted wooden sticks decorated with seashells sculpted to look like skulls. At the top of the walls were sand-constructed, honest to God cannons.

And in front of this ominous looking construction stood a grinning Harry, leaning on a sign that read: HARRY'S SAND-FORTESS OF DOOM. BEWARE!

Still grinning, Harry said, "Well, now you have a castle, and I have a castle. You should know what happens next." As he finished saying that, one of the wall mounted cannons seemed to move, fixing itself on Hermione's small, feeble, and utterly defenseless castle.

Hermione promptly decided it was best to get out of the way…

_**Authors Note:**_ If you have an Omake you'd like to write for this, or even just a good idea you can't or don't have the ability to write we can take a crack at it. Either way, please send it to it to is and Dragen will post it for you.

_**PLEASE LEAVE A GOOD SIZE REVIEW!**_


	9. Chapter 9 - Christmas with the Grangers!

'_Thoughts!'_

_§ 'Parseltongue!' §_

_**Warning:**_ Underage Lemon, Male Dom, and Fem Sub.

_**Chapter 9**_

_Harry found himself standing in the middle of his hellish mindscape, his mind was a bit foggy at the moment and he couldn't think why he was here. He would normally come here when he was meditating, needed to think or when he was asleep and he came here to see his sister. It'd been like this since he'd discovered his mindscape. Needing to take a few moments to find out why he was here he walked up to his throne. He'd barely sat down before Lucy appeared and greeted him with a kiss, "Greetings Master."_

_He smiled in exasperation as he pulled back. He honestly preferred the title brother from Lucy, but she liked to change things up every once in awhile. "Hey Lucy." He greeted back, stroking her hair in preparation for the dipping he knew her head would be doing soon._

_Sure enough she dropped to her knees with a happy grin and inhaled his flaccid cock, which didn't stay that way for long under her skilled ministrations._

_As she was doing this Harry got back to work wondering how he got here. It actually took a moment to realize that he'd fallen asleep in his room at the Grangers. It was the first night back from Hogwarts for the Christmas Holidays and Harry was planning to finish his homework that night so he had the rest of the Holidays free. He'd been working for hours and was almost finished; he must have passed out at his desk._

_Harry was glad that it was the Holidays and he could get away from Hogwarts for a while. It hurt him that he was growing to resent the place he had once thought of as his new home for a fresh start, but after the student body had found Mrs. Norris petrified - for that's what had happened to her, not death like they had thought at first - the sheep that they were, they eventually realized that Harry wasn't at the feast. This was clearly enough evidence to accuse him, because that's what they did, somehow his ability to use Parseltongue mutating via the gossip network and before long everyone 'knew' that those with the Parseltongue gift/curse could petrify people. This was ridiculous of course, but if he really had such an ability he decided, after how frustrating things got at times, he might have actually ended up using it. His fellow students were also completely overlooking that petrification magic was far more advanced than Harry, no matter how prodigious his magical abilities were, could hope to be capable of at his age._

_Harry, at least at first, couldn't blame them for suspecting him. They were right, he wasn't at the feast, which was suspicious from their point of view, but that empathy was defenestrated when they began to demonize him._

_Thankfully a good deal of the pressure was relieved when Nearly-Headless Ghost backed up his story about Harry and his friends being at his Death Party. Like good little sheep they moved onto the next most obvious target; Draco Malfoy. Malfoy's recent attitude wasn't doing him any favours, the boy was strutting far more than usual, spitting out racial slurs and being an all around unpleasant individual to anyone that wasn't Pureblood, and ones only loyal to the blood supremacists ideals as well. Despite this, the study group decided Malfoy was just taking credit for the attack non-directly. This was shockingly cunning of the mediocre boy, meaning it was either a rare stroke of brilliance, or the Malfoy Heir was actually developing into a Slytherin finally._

_Hermione, like the rest of the school, wanted to learn about the Chamber of Secrets. Unfortunately for the bibliophile, she'd left her copy of Hogwarts: A History at home, and all the copies in the library were already checked out by others who had the same idea as her. So she went to the next best source; Professor Binns. At first the ghost teacher wasn't having any of it, but the entire class was so attentive that he began the discussion of the Chamber legend. To some, it lead to Harry being in the spotlight for the attack on Mrs. Norris again due to the Slytherin's beast being something only he could control. Tying into Parseltongue being his most infamous skill, and it wasn't a hard assumption to make the monster was a snake of some sort._

_These suspicions only increased when Sophie Roper was found Petrified in the halls. This wouldn't have cantered attention on Harry, but the Ravenclaw girl two years ahead of him had been quite vocal in accusing him just a few days prior. This came as a surprise to Harry, since she was one of Luna's bullies and had barely been able to look at him for most of the year, but apparently herd mentality made her get over her fear enough to start hating him._

_After these two events Harry assumed that as long as there were no more attacks, and he kept his head down, it would blow over in time; some other rumour taking its place._

_He quickly learned how foolish assuming things in Hogwarts was. The incident during his first Quidditch match of the year only made things worse. The possessed Bludger had been annoying, but at least Gryffindor had won the game. The few hours in the Hospital Wing getting his broken forearm mended back together would have been well worth the win. Well it _would _have been a few hours, if Lockhart hadn't forced his way passed the crowd of students cheering for him and made the injury several times worse by Vanishing his bones, meaning he had to spent the entire night squirming in discomfort as the Skele-Gro did its job thoroughly stripped the 'worth it' feeling from the entire ordeal._

_While he was in bed recovering Dobby, the bloody House-Elf appeared and informed Harry that he was the one tempered with the Bludger, so that it would hurt Harry so badly he would be sent home and away from Hogwarts. The bloody Elf had informed Harry that the Chamber had opened fifty years beforehand, and someone was killed. This, apparently, warranted enough of a possible threat to 'The Great Harry Potter sir' that Dobby felt it was a justified act to physically maim him via a possessed ball of solid iron wrapped in leather to get him to drop out of Hogwarts._

_Needless to say, as aggravated as Harry was by then, Dumbledore and McGonagall barging into the Infirmary was the only thing that stopped him from discovering exactly what temperature House Elf flesh liquified at. It turned out the professors were carrying Colin Creevey, his unofficial head fanboy and photographer, who was petrified. The commotion made Dobby flee, annoying Harry further._

_Despite having a very clear alibi that half the school had been witness to, because of his well known annoyance for the Colin boy, his fellow students thought he was behind this attack as well. It was an unpleasant surprise to come back to the Dorm after class the next day to find his House finishing off a House Meeting, which Harry found out was to vote if he should be thrown out of the Tower. They didn't have the authority to ban him from the House, but they could all band together so he wouldn't be able to stay there. After spending the night tossing and turning, getting only an hour or two of sleep Harry was in no mood for any of their bullshit and just wanted to get to sleep. That hadn't ended well for anyone involved._

_9th of November:_

Harry walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room, it had been a long day, he only had about two hours or so sleep and he had class that morning. What didn't help his mood was that people were whispering about him being behind the latest attack. All he wanted was to get some sleep so he would be able to deal with everything with a clear head.

And that was the plan; go to his room, lay down, go to bed, sleep until morning, and do his best to block out the rest of the world. Dinner could sod off for an evening. He entered the Common Room, his feet dragging as lack of sleep made his gait sluggish just in time to hear, "- So it's decided, by a majority vote, when he comes back we'll tell him he's not allowed in the tower anymore until the attacks stop."

Looking up he couldn't quite place the name of his fellow Gryffindor that had announced this, but he was a fifth year, judging by his height and age. "What's going on here?" Harry asked.

It was Ron who told Harry what was going on, "Voting you out of Gryffindor, Potter." Ronald hissed.

"What!?" Harry exclaimed in shock, "I haven't done anything!" He insisted.

"Oh you have Potter," Ron sneered, "not only have you befriended the slimy Slytherins, which is bad enough and most of us had enough of. But we all, apart for a few of us," Ronald added quickly as he saw Harry's closest friends giving him dark looks, "believe that you're behind the attacks somehow. It couldn't be a coincidence that Colin, who pesters you so much, and a girl who's been accusing you of being the Heir of Slytherin and bullying Loony both get petrified. The teachers might not be able to prove it, but we know it was you. So I suggested and everyone agreed that we should cast you out of Gryffindor." Ron explained smugly, parroting the words said during the meeting by other people.

"What!?" Harry snapped angrily, "You're throwing me out because two people who I don't get along with get petrified? Don't you think it's just as likely someone's trying to frame me for this. How can I be Heir of Slytherin when my two closest friends are Muggleborns, who by that logic I should be killing?"

"That's what we believed at first…" Ron admitted, to Harry's and his friends surprise. "But then we remembered that all the massage said was '_enemies of the Heir beware'_ though, it never said it was Muggleborns this time. It could just be people that the Heir didn't like, and so far the two people that've been attacked are both people you don't like, so it's easy to see you're the Heir!"

Harry admitted, if only mentally to himself, that their deductions were understandable, and raised a good point, but that still didn't give them the right to do this. He voiced these thoughts for the benefit of those who weren't mind readers, "I can see where you lot are coming from but it doesn't give you the right to throw me out. Do you think McGonagall would allow you to do this?"

"That's right, McGonagall wouldn't allow it, no, but that's why we voted on our own." Ron told Harry, "You see Potter there's an old rule on our side though; if a member of a House no long 'fits' into that House anymore for whatever reason, the House Members can cast them out. But that's only as long as a majority vote is given, but as long as we get that whoever that House decides on goes. Even though your friends voted for you to stay, we still got the majority vote." The ginger explained smugly.

"So there's nothing you can do about this Potter." A sixth year Prefect said before turning his attention towards Harry's friends. "Even your friends can't help you now. So beat it Potter, before we call upon the school magic to kick you out." It was an empty bluff, anyone that knew a bit about how the castle worked would know that, but the entire House being against one person was just as effective as the Hogwarts Wards being pointed inwards.

"Uh huh…" Harry said slowly, his sleep addled mind working things over. "And, you realize, if I really was the Heir I would probably start killing you all right now, right? Or let this go and start picking you off one at a time over the next few months so the rest of you are so terrified by the time I come for you you'll break down sobbing at the very sight of me?" He growled, not at all helping his case, but not able to help himself; he was too tired and pissed off to care.

The House of the Brave… cowered at the Harry's rage, every single one of the supposedly fearless people fidgeting at his words and presence, before the fifth year spoke again, his voice scratching, quiet and stuttering. "Just-just leave, Potter!"

Harry snorted at the so called House of the Brave, they really were cowards. Seeing that this was final, he headed for his dorm room to get his things. No one moved to stop him, and he was back down out the portrait entrance within thirty seconds, his trunk shrunken down and in his pocket.

Melody, Hermione and Harry's other Gryffindor friends were beyond angry as they followed Harry out of the Common Room, but Harry turned to them and softly said, "If you want to join me in exile that's fine, but you need to stay here for a little while longer so I can find somewhere for us to stay. I know it's hard being around those cowards right now, but it won't be for long."

Harry's friend's weren't too keen on the idea, but they accepted that they couldn't burn those bridges quite yet.

Or at least, that's what they said out loud as they parted ways. The Grangers, Weasley twins, and Chaser trio thought that their other friends within the House would see that Harry wasn't like the rumor mill made out to be. Colin may have been a pain in the neck, but Harry wouldn't petrify the kid, scare him maybe, if pushed far enough, but not petrify him. They began to rethink their friendship with the friends who didn't join in their study group.

Two hours later found Harry by himself in an old deserted living area for a Professor, There was a small room with a few beds in it where Harry could sleep until he found a larger area, so he decided to stay there for the time being.

The last Potter was beyond annoyed, thoroughly frustrated at the rapid fire blows against him as of late. As soon as he left the Gryffindor Tower he went straight to McGonagall to see if they could really get away with what they'd just done. Sadly, while she was quite upset with her House for what they'd done, there was nothing she could do. The rule Ron quoted was correct, and unless another vote was called he was no longer allowed inside the Gryffindor Tower, and any points he gained in class would be effectively worthless, since for all intents and purposes he was not in his own House that just so happened to share a class schedule with Gryffindor. McGonagall did manage to tell Harry an area where the old living area was for the Professors was, so he could have somewhere to sleep. She also appointed a House-Elf to help keep the area clean while he was using it. House Elves already kept the entire castle as clean as they could, but with how big the castle was all they had time to do was just general dusting for the more unused areas.

It didn't took long with the help of the House Elf to get the area back to perfect condition. He used the House-Elf to let his friends know where he was, but also not to come to him as he wasn't really in the mood to see anyone right away. Melody promptly ignored this and showed up with some of her homework.

Half an hour later they were in the bedroom when Harry collapsed onto the bed, sitting on the edge, but knew he was too worked up to sleep. He needed to relax a bit and he knew just how to, "Melody, come over here." He ordered absently. It really spoke of how often they had these encounters that he was so comfortable with ordering her to please him.

Melody was laying on her stomach, her knees under her in what looked like an uncomfortable position as she browsed through one of her Transfigurations book for the test they were having in a few days. "Not right now, Master." She replied distractedly.

It took several seconds for her words to sink in for Harry, which were spent blankly staring at her before he replied with a flat, annoyed, "What."

Melody didn't seem to react to his mood shift, her tone still as distracted as before. "I really need to study for this, I'll do it tomorrow, maybe."

The anger he'd been feeling had subsided while he was exploring the castle after finding this room, he found the exploration very relaxing. But yet another thing not going his way, and something that had always been his on demand, made it all come rushing back. Eyebrows angled and his eyes narrowed he growled lightly, "Bullshit, we both know you're smart enough to pass the test just as easily and me and Hermione did last year. I gave you an order, Apprentice. Now come over here and give me a blow job." He ordered her.

The youngest Granger hummed, like she wasn't paying him any attention. Her toes curled, drawing his attention before her back end began very slowly swaying a few inches from side to side.

Suddenly he realized what Melody was playing at, which caused him to recall Lucy's amused assessment of his friends sexual fantasies from one of his dreams. _"A lot of girls want their first time to be really romantic, but some want to be held down and fucked. I think you're smart enough to tell which of your friends entertain which fantasies, brother."_

Already stripped of his clothes Harry marched over to the girl a few feet away and, without a word, grabbed her panties from underneath her skirt and pulled them up sharply. Melody gave a yelp, her back end raising further and her knees widening. She made to turn around, but Harry grabbed the back of her head and pressed it into the bed. It would have been more fitting if he could have pushed her cheek into her book, but the book had been pushed forwards too far.

_**Lemon Begins: Skip if you're underage or not into this kind of thing!**_

Reversing his motion from before he yanked her panties down, his knuckles brushing against her rapidly wettening lips, which went a long way in easing Harry's unsurety of what he was doing. He knelt behind her, his knees gently but firmly on the back of hers before he leaned forward, his free hand covering the back of one of hers.

"Melody, I know what you're trying," Harry paused a moment, letting that sink in, "this _will_ mean you're mine… forever." He said softly allowing himself to indulge his real desires. He never went far with Melody because, aside from his own hesitance about finally having sex, it was for her benefit. As things were now, they could part ways and she could be with someone else, if she wanted to in the future, but, if they crossed this final step… he knew he wouldn't let her go. He was selfish like that, a fact that he'd accepted about himself ages ago. "You'll never be able to be with another person unless I say so, from this moment on, you'll be mine to do with what I please, whenever, wherever, no matter what you want. We can stop now and stay as we are, and, if you want to find a boyfriend later on, you'll be able to, but if we continue you'll. Be. _Mine_."

Melody shivered, a pleasant tingle coursing up her body at the dark and dominant mood her Master was shifting into. There was no hesitation to be felt on her part; she wanted this more than she'd ever wanted anything. She may have been young, and most would goggle at him forcing such a decision on her already, but Melody had known exactly what she wanted and where she wanted this relationship to go, so she pressed her backside against his crotch and submissively said, "Master, from the beginning when I started all this I decided I would never want anyone else but you. I don't care what anybody thinks about it, as long I'm with you. _So take what's been yours for months now, Master._" Melody thought the last sentence, knowing that demanding anything from her Master was not what he wanted, her last act of freedom was the thought that she had finally told her Master her true feelings.

That was all Harry wanted to hear, however, he wasn't just about to give her what she wanted straight away. If this was going to work he'd need to demonstrate what he meant, "Transform." He ordered.

Melody smiled at how commanding her Master was being and complied. Her body shifted, growing fur and filling out a little bit, her tail feeling slightly awkward until her Master grabbed it like he always did. She closed her eyes, content to wait until his cock was properly lined up with her pussy, only to feel his fingers inserted into her instead.

"Until I say otherwise, I don't want you to cum." Harry commanded with an eager smile, not able to contain his excitement as the rush of finally going as far as he desired washed away his last remaining doubts.

"Master!" Melody whined in response, only to moan as he tugged her tail hard, pulling her back onto his fingers.

"This is your punishment for disobeying me earlier." Harry announced before he began to slowly play with her pussy fingering and playing with her tail as well, enjoying the feel of the soft fur and twitching muscle beneath that gave away her excitement. Melody involuntarily moaned in pleasure at what her Master was doing, despite the urge to beg for his cock, she mewled under his ministrations in hopes that her punishment might be lessened and she could get what her Master wanted to give her.

Before long, Harry ordered, "Get onto your back!" And, not wanting to anger him, well not right now anyway, Melody did as she was told. Once she was in position, Harry began to lick and bite her breasts, all the while fingering her pussy roughly.

Over the next half an hour Harry continued this pattern, teasing Melody within a hair's breadth of her orgasm, but always stopped before she was pushed over the edge. Either Harry would stop at the last moment, or Melody was forced to stop herself before it happened. The problem, for Melody, was that it was getting painful, "P-Please M-Master allow me to c-cum, please!" Melody begged, she really needed to cum but her Master wouldn't allow it.

"No my Apprentice, you haven't earned it yet." Harry said with a smirk, "Now open your mouth!"

As her Master ordered her, she opened her mouth and before she could get a breath for what she knew was to come, her Master's cock was in her mouth as he fucked it roughly. Instead of following her body's instinctive response to obtain air no matter what she had to do to get it, she was instead growing even more turned on and wet at how roughly her Master was using her. Up until now she'd seen shades of this, whenever he grew angered about something, but it hadn't really reached the level she'd craved. Her gushing pussy was evidence of just how much she enjoyed the treatment at last.

Before long her Master pulled his cock out of her mouth, fisting it a half dozen times before he groaned and unloaded on her breasts. Voice still husky and slightly strained from the recent rush of endorphins he instantly gave the order, "Rub it in."

Melody had already moved to do just that, since it wasn't an uncommon order from her Master. Truthfully she preferred swallowing his cum, finding she both enjoyed the taste and it was quite filling, but it did always make her fur so shiny and soft so it wasn't any sort of loss. With practiced ease the budding electric elemental massaged her breasts, wetting her fur with his thick seed, moaning happily with every exceptionally pleasurable spot she hit.

Seeing her completely lost in her given task Harry laid a hand on her head, petting her hair like he would an obedient puppy. "Do you like that, do you like being used as a slut."

"Oh yes Master I do." Melody replied submissively.

"Do you want me to fuck you?" Harry asked her with a smirk as an idea formed. Melody could only nod her head, giddy at the prospect of finally getting what she wanted after all this time. "Then hold your legs apart and don't move until I say so, understood?"

Instead of answering she pulled her legs apart widely, just as he'd ordered. Harry smirked at how submissive his little slut was being. Without another word he placed his cock at her entrance, rubbing the tip up and down the petite, untouched slit, teasing her mercilessly. He would push slightly, watching her closely as she took a deep breath, her eyes locked to where their bodies would be joined, only to pull back and begin rubbing it again, smirking as she pouted.

He did this a few more times, not always making to insert himself, but also kneaded her breasts or kiss her roughly. This, naturally, was driving Melody insane; she really needed to cum. She almost let go of her legs so she could finger herself, but one look from her Master told her what a bad idea it would be.

Eventually Harry's wandering hands moved from her breasts, instead running over her sides, hips and thighs. Since his hands were busy his cock was held steadily pressed against her labia, just one small thrust away from penetration. Melody eventually snapped, after a series of whines and mewls she finally begged, "Please Master, I'm begging you Master, please fuck me, I need to cum."

Before she knew what happened, Melody yelped at her Master not only taking her virginity, but as he roughly tweaked one of her nipples when she tried to scoot towards him ever so slightly to get him to penetrate her deeper. Her cheeks sparked as a response to the sudden and unexpected pain - she normally would have expected punishment, but she was hyper focused - but her position quickly shifted towards submission, holding still and keeping her gaze locked at the junction between her legs.

"Oh yes Master, just like that, fuck your Apprentice, make me your slut!" Melody exclaimed with a happy squeal. Harry absently noted what she said, his hips slamming into hers even harder to please them both, but most of his attention was on how much better real sex felt than it did in his dreams. His dreams hadn't accounted for his partner's body heat, or the fact that the walls of her pussy would move, twitch or tighten depending on what he did.

It was quickly growing too much for Melody to take, "Please Master, let me to cum." She pleaded.

"Then cum for me." Harry ordered, never faltering as he continued fucking her. Melody immediately shrieked, her body convulsing as she was finally allowed the release she craved. Harry followed closely behind, her inner walls gripping him even tighter setting him off. His hips kept hammering into her, extending both their orgasms for that much longer as he pumped his seed into he. Harry collapsed, rolling sideways so they were facing each other on their sides. Breathing heavily, Harry said as he felt sleep fast approaching. "That felt great, thanks for pushing me to do this, I'll reward you later." Melody moaned tiredly, excited at the possibilities.

_**Lemon Ends: Read from here if you skipped the Lemon!**_

As Harry slept, Melody cleaned herself up with a smile. At long last she'd gotten what she wanted. She sighed sadly though as she was forced to leave him for now. She didn't want to, but she knew if she didn't her sister would be suspicious of why she took so long. Hermione would be asking questions that she didn't want to answer. She decided to leave a note, explaining where she went and why, just in case he woke up and was too sleepy to work this out on his own.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_As he pulled himself out of his memory of that evening he grunted, filling Lucy's mouth and throat. The size of his load was far more than even the generous supply he released in reality, but to Harry's amazement Lucy took it all. When he finally finished cumming Lucy pulled her mouth away his cock, licking her lips clean of any of his essence that had spilled out, "What were you thinking about to make you cum that much brother?"_

"_Me and Melody's first time." Harry replied with a fond and happy smile. Melody hadn't been content to just that one time, after they had their first times together, after that every single rendezvous they had that used to just involve blowjobs or snogging inevitably ended with a happy Melody adjusting her panties, or lack thereof, in an attempt to keep all of Harry seed inside her. This evened out to about three times a week during the day and almost every night by the end of the year, but for about a month after their first time the only times Melody weren't glued to his side - and crotch when they were alone - were during classes and when they were with their friends._

"_Took you long enough." Lucy teased with a smirk, as she seat of his lap, "That can't have been all though, what else's on your mind?"_

"_Oh just thinking about what happened since I was kicked out of Gryffindor and turned into a social pariah." Harry answered. It really wasn't that hard of a transition honestly. What also helped was that the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team had apparently resigned. Harry couldn't wipe the smirk off his face for three days after hearing the news, knowing that Gryffindor wouldn't be winning the Quidditch Cup that year._

_The small area McGonagall had told him about was a little uncomfortable, the beds being so old and unused, but he found a tower just like the Gryffindor tower not soon after. It turned out the Hogwarts Founders didn't build the school, they bought it from a family that already owned the castle. The name of this family had been lost to history, and they had even wanted to start their own school. The virginal Hogwarts was supposed to have Houses as well, but they were separated by numbers, their members completely random. The more students, the more Houses._

_Over the following week his friends slowly came to this new House. The main reason being that people were giving them trouble for being friends with Harry, and they too became social pariahs. Harry told them more than once it would be completely okay if they wanted to cut ties with him temporarily so they wouldn't be shunned like him, and that he could handle it just fine, but they were loyal and adamant about staying by his side. _

_His Slytherin friends came to his new House first, they were already shunned by their house for the beliefs, and the rest of the school for wearing green and silver, so it really wasn't much of a change for them. Tracy stayed in Slytherin; leaving Slytherin AND joining Harry would make her precarious situation even worse, being a Half-Blood, but one that hadn't been outed as such because she knew how to compose herself. Harry wished her luck, and made sure she knew a spot in his House was always open for her if she needed it. _

_His Pureblood training with Daphne progressed even faster thanks to living so close together and could spend more time working on it._

_One of the perks he was informed he had as the last of the Potters was the ability to gain the title Lord Potter at the age of thirteen instead of seventeen. This meant he could do magic out of school, along with a few other benefits, like getting his own room at Hogwarts; which he was legally allowed to invite anybody he wished to stay with him inside of. This made things a lot easier for them, so next year they wouldn't have to worry about what people thought about them being in their own House. Harry also learnt that as Lord Potter he would need to get to know different people, and to keep them happy, so Daphne taught Harry how. Teaching him how to be a proper Slytherin so he knew what to do with different people. She told Harry that it was important to know all sorts of people, people that he wouldn't normally deal with, so that he could rebuild the Potter Family. This lead to Daphne revealing that he would also need to rebuild two other families; the Blacks and Peverells. _

_A lengthy lesson about the two families and Harry was quite proud of his heritage, though he promised he would roast Sirius Black alive for what he'd done to his parents, or possibly kill him with a spell from the infamous Black Library Daphne had gushed about. The Peverells were a rather old family, older than the Hogwarts Founders, and more than a few members were part of known legends, even in current times. Some say that Slytherin was a descendant of them, but whether or not that was true was another matter. The family's members were usually nothing extraordinary, they were in fact shockingly average actually, a few exceptions aside. Those who were made into legends had a nasty habit of being in the right place at the… well either wrong or right, depending on who you asked. Life was certainly interesting for the Peverell line, a trait that was passed onto the Potter family when they married into his family a few centuries back._

_During one of their talks they ended up discussing the neutral families. Harry remembered one of their last talks about them before breaking up for the Christmas Holidays; it was a very illuminating conversation._

_19th of December:_

It was the end of their last lesson before the Christmas break and Harry had something he wanted to talk to Daphne about, something that had been on his mind since they talked about neutral factions within Slytherin and on the Wizengamot. "Daphne, do you mind I ask you about the neutral families?" Harry requested. Daphne saw no harm in it and gave him an affirmative nod. "Why is it with so many of you, that you still let people like the Malfoys and the others have so much control over them? Why don't you band together and do something about them?"

"I was wondering when you would be asking me this…" Daphne said with a sigh, "Sadly, while they call themselves neutral most of them aren't. In fact there are only a handful of truly neutral families around. Even more Sadly, most of them believe in what Voldemort was doing, trying to get rid of the Muggleborns and Muggles, either by killing them or enslaving them. The only reason they didn't do anything was because were too cowardly to fight, and instead decided to call themselves neutral. The fact of the matter is that most are still Death Eater sympathizers, helping Death Eaters by hiding them and supplying them with the supplies needed to fuel the war." Daphne explained, "There are so few truly neutral in the factions that we're forced to keep our heads down, lest the majority suddenly either fully switch over to the Pureblood bloc or come after us."

"Doesn't that contradict you joining my group, and to an even greater degree, joining my House?" Harry wondered.

"In a way, it does," Daphne allowed, "but as I said, Slytherin House was becoming dangerous for me and my friends, and so we had to do what we did for protection." What she didn't let on was that she had other reasons, using Harry to reach her own goals being a major one. "Anyway, unless there's something else you wish to ask, let's get back to our Common Room."

Harry shook his head, so the two ventured back to their as of yet unnamed House's Common Room.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_Harry sighed as he thought as he thought back about that day, Illuminating though it may have been, it was quite depressing._

_Training in the Pureblood customs, Legilimency, and he and his friend's Wizengamot and Occlumency wasn't the only thing that she was teaching them. A week into November, Daphne began to teach them the Dark Arts, following the instructions her father had given her rigidly, so none of them succumbed to the dark urgings the spells created before the castor built up immunity._

_At first some of the group wasn't too sure about it, as the Dark Arts were called that for a reason and were dangerous, but Daphne went into more detail of the reasons for why they progressed so slow at first, to prevent the sort of dark magic build up that caused so many people to become so twisted. She further soothed them by revealing that even Aurors used the Dark Arts when facing Dark Magic Users, to fight fire with fire; though only when ordered and as the last resort. After some more talk and convincing, they all agreed to learn the Dark Arts. As the adage went, it was better to know something and not need it, then come to find out you need to know something just a scant few seconds before your untimely death._

_The only real benefit to the rest of the school succumbing to a herd mentality of Harry-hate was that the group created a name for themselves. If they were going to be cast out of their Houses, then they would wear the moniker with pride. They would call themselves the Outcasts._

_On a more personal note, somehow, when they weren't shagging each other, Harry and Melody worked on their Elemental Abilities together. _

_Melody was progressing nicely, mostly focusing on increasing the capacity of her - and she pouted mightily at Harry for calling them this - electricity pouches. She couldn't do much with the amount of energy at her disposal, though there was a noticeable increase in her reserves it wasn't nearly enough to do with what she wanted. Begrudgingly, Melody had taken to watching the Pokemon TV show for ideas, since it was easier than thinking them up her own. They started with Thunder Wave, liking the idea of a move that could paralyze someone, and she was even met with success in using the move, but it only worked about forty percent of the time._

_Quick Attack was also on her list, since it would put her at a distinct advantage against Wand-Mages. When was in her monster form she slightly faster and more agile than a normal human, so she hoped that with this training she could get the extra boost when she needed it for sticky situations._

_The last skill she was learning was Thunder Punch. She did this by surging a large amount of electricity through her hands, balling them into fists, and then punching something with them. In theory, very simple, in practise, she hit a major snag when her electricity pouches proves insufficient when it came to supplying her with enough energy to actually make the technique work._

_Harry was making some pretty steady progress. He liked the ability to hear things from flames, as long as he knew where the flame was he could hear whatever he wanted to, in fact it was the only skill he was able to master. But then again, it was one of the easiest to learn. He was finally able to cover his entire body in flames also. He couldn't manipulate them to do anything yet, but that milestone had been reached before he could even begin manipulation training. The sight alone of being wreathed completely in flames was, to the part of him that was a regular teenage boy, pretty damned worth it. He just had to think what he should manipulate the flames to do, but now that he was over that hurdle he could start working on the really fun stuff._

_As for their Non-Elemental training, Harry, Melody and Hermione's progress was going well enough. Their progress on the Shadow Clones was going about as well as could be expected, that is to say, at a snails pace. If they knew where to start it would easier, but they weren't going to give just yet - the potential was too good to call it quits after just a few months. Mind Trick was slightly more successful, thanks to Harry's research into how the mind worked to help learn Legilimency and Occlumency better, they got a better understanding what they were doing. Once they learnt how to do the Mind Trick on command, instead of just when their emotions were high Harry, Melody and a somewhat forced Hermione used Harry's cloak to sneak around and use the ability on unsuspecting students to see what they could make students do. Hermione didn't like doing it, but she did agree that they needed to see what they could and couldn't make people do. Testing their limits in a safe environment was better than when they really needed to rely on the ability, only for it not to work. At the moment they knew it wasn't that strong; the most they could do was make their targets bark like dogs, take different routes to get to where they were going, and other small, inconsequential things. When they tried bigger things nothing would happen, which was good; that was the whole point of the doing it the way they were, but it was still disheartening for them. It just meant they had to work harder to make it work._

_He was pulled from his thoughts by Lucy, who sat on his lap facing and smirked, "Master, we've got a little time before you wake up, but why don't we make the most of the time we have left?"_

_That sounded like a wonderful suggestion to Harry, and within a few seconds he adjusted himself and kissed her passionately, a gesture she eagerly returned. Harry's hands roamed over his sister's body as he slipped his cock inside of her. Giving a little thrust of his hips, Lucy took the hint and began bouncing up and down, Harry's hands still pawing at her body. _

_This continued for several glorious minutes, and both could feel their climaxes nearing, but all of a sudden Harry's vision went blurry before darkness claimed him, the last thing he heard being Lucy's violent curses as he was pulled back to reality._

_**o0OoO0o**_

Harry found himself laying on his bed in the bedroom that the Grangers gave him, which immediately struck him as strange, but shrugged it off and assumed either Dan or Emma had put him in his bed sometime in the night. Harry was quite thankful for this, a sore back was no way to wake up. He grimaced as he looked down; speaking of uncomfortable things to wake up to… He got up to go to Melody's room for a quicky, knowing how annoyed she would be if she found out he'd taken matters into his own hand instead of coming to her.

He was further annoyed to find that Melody was not in her room. A quick trip downstairs after throwing on some clothes was rewarded with Emma informing him that Dan and the girls had left to visit Dan's parents for the day. She stayed behind to keep an eye on him. Harry made to apologize, and tell her it wasn't needed, but Emma shook her head and explained that she and her in-laws hadn't gotten along since the accident shortly after Melody was born. Harry wasn't quite sure what 'the accident' was but he got the feeling Emma didn't want to talk about it, so he didn't press further.

Feeling an uncomfortable pressure building, Harry excused himself after breakfast and rushed to the bathroom to take care of the problem.

Harry was jerked out of his masturbation when he heard a gasp to his left, he froze, failing to cover himself as he turned to see a red faced Emma. She'd seen him naked before, and even touched him, but this was different. "I-I thought I locked the door?" He blurted, feeling his own dose of embarrassment.

"I… It's my fault, don't be sorry." Emma attempted to wave it off, "The lock broke a few weeks ago and I've been meaning to Den fix it." Silence filled the air as Harry shifted uncomfortably and Emma found herself unable to pull her eyes away from his erection; mentally tallying how much it'd grown since she last saw it. Eventually she realized what she was doing and sputtered, "I-I'll just leave you to finish up!" Before she hurriedly closed the door.

A normal person probably would have been turned off the idea, but Harry was neither normal nor in any position to deny his release any further. Unbidden his fantasies were filled with new thoughts; before she barged in Harry was thinking about Melody and Lucy, but now Emma slipped into his mind; thoughts of how the Mother of his Apprentice, a mature and sexier version of her two daughters no less, and what she could do in bed. These fantasies were only interrupted by an orgasm of surprising strength that last for quite a while. Harry had to take a moment to catch his breath, leaning back against the toilet, before he recovered and left the bathroom; venturing back to his room to finish up his homework.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_27th of December:_

It was a few days since the incident between Harry and Emma and he found his normal dreams and daytime fantasies featuring the older woman more often than normal. A few times she and Melody were in them at the same time, pleasuring him together. There were times after these dreams Harry couldn't look Emma in the eye, unable to hold himself back from looking at her in ways that would have very clearly stated his desires He was lucky that he had Melody to use to get over these feelings and needs he had, but as willing as the girl was she was being run completely ragged by their activities, and it was sheer luck Hermione hadn't caught them yet.

Then came Christmas Day. It was a good day, they spent the day opening gifts from their family and friends. Harry gave the Grangers parents a lifetime subscriptions to the _Daily Prophet_, so they would know what was going on in the Wizarding World. Hermione got a few books on about learning and the history of Martial Arts, inspired by the interest she'd shown in learning to fight after reading the comics Birds of Prey. He also completed her collection, since she was missing an issue here and there. Hermione thanked him with a hug and a chaste kiss, which were both very nice. Melody got a similar gift in regards to her comics, Harry tracking down the issues she was missing for her. He also gave her a more private gift later that evening as he spent the entire night pleasuring her. Falling asleep, and waking up in each other's arms, was something different since one of them usually needed to leave after the sex and both enjoyed the experience.

The rest of his friends received fitting but more mundane gifts. Anybody interested in Quidditch got good equipment to go with their position of choice, while other got rare or uncommon books, sweets, and/or prank items depending on who the recipient was.

As for his own gifts, the Granger Family completed his Naruto collection and got him the first box set for the recently released Naruto Anime. Melody and Hermione bought him books on duelling, since they knew he wanted to become better at it. Melody gave Harry her own special private gift, which lead to the amusing situation of both of them insisting on pleasuring the other that first night, but Harry eventually ordered her to submit and let him pleasure her first, and her gift would be the next night. He obtained a large supply of sweets, books and pranking supplies in return from his other friends.

The most shocking gift was from Daphne. The Greengrass Heiress sent him a chest via House-Elf; in it were books and scrolls on the Dark One, the being that called himself the Overlord of Evil. Harry recalled the name from when he got his wand; that it once belonged to the Dark One himself before he was betrayed and defeated. The note from Daphne informed him that she found this chest in Borgin and Burkes and, because she knew he was also a Fire Elemental, he would find more use for it then she would. Only another Fire Elemental could open it, so the info inside could be very useful should he ever use it. Harry smiled at all the gifts; it was the best Christmas he'd ever had.

A few days later Harry and the Grangers were relaxing when they heard a knock at the door. Emma went to answer it, and about five minutes later she came back with a man wearing a black Sherwani with dark purple timings. As Emma entered the living room with the man she said, "Harry, this man is looking for you, he wanted a word with you."

"Greetings Mr. Potter, I'm Baladeva Patil, and I would like a few moments of your time." Baladeva greeted.

It took Harry a few moments before he remembered where he'd heard the name before, it was during one of the talks with Daphne about political affairs in the Wizarding World. Baladeva Patil was India's magical ambassador to the United Kingdom and Parvati's and Padma's father. He had lived in England for about eight years, his only son Rajya had graduated from Hogwarts the year before Harry started Hogwarts. "Greetings Ambassador Patil, it's an honour to meet you." Harry replied as he remembered what Daphne told him, "Though it's Heir Potter now sir." Harry added as he revealed his Heir Ring. Once he found about it, Harry sent a letter to the Goblins to get the Ring and it came to him the day before he left Hogwarts. Harry didn't want to do this, but Daphne informed him that in introductions they had to use their titles. Well, not many did it these days, but when people appear in your house without warning it was best to keep the other person off balance until you knew what they are after.

"Forgive me Heir Potter, I wasn't informed that you had your Heir Ring," Baladeva apologized. "In fact, I had assumed you wouldn't know who I was."

"I would be suspicious if you did, no one knows Ambassador, I only got my Ring just before I left Hogwarts." Harry explained, waving his concerns off. "It's thanks to my training with a friend to catch up on what I should already know that I know who you are. Now, can I ask why an Ambassador from India wants to talk to me. I would also like to know how you found me."

"The last question is simple enough, and leads right into why I'm here." Baladeva stated, "I paid a few people to find where the Grangers lived when I found out you were staying with them. The reason for this is because I would like to ask for an Alliance between the House of Potter and House of Patil."

Harry was shocked at the offer, but was more shocked at how the man found him. It was such a simple solution, which thankfully most of the authority figures in Magical Britain would never think to do it, nor would they have the resources to do so even if they did 'lower themselves' to hiring someone with knowledge of the Muggle World. Either way, he would have to deal with that later. First thing he had to do was to sort out this Alliance, so he said, "Not to be rude Ambassador, but why would you make such an offer to me?"

"As you may or may not know, I've two daughters; Padma and Parvati." Baladeva began.

"I know of them Ambassador," Harry replied dutifully, "Padma, I just know by name. Parvati… not to to be rude, but she's a rumour monger, along with her friend Lavender Brown, so I very rarely ever even consider going anywhere near her, lest I draw her attention and cause her to make up a rumor about be."

Baladeva chuckled and smiled as he said, "No worries Heir Potter, there is a reason behind it and if you agree to an Alliance I shall fill you in. As for my motivation, it's because my daughters have informed me that you're a Parseltongue."

Harry raised an eyebrow at this, suspicious as to why this would be cause for a move as heavy as offering an alliance. "With how people have been acting since they found out about this, you should want to be as far away from me as possible."

"I can't hold that assumption against you." Baladeva admitted with a frown, "What do you know about Indian culture?"

"Next to nothing." Harry answered succinctly.

"That isn't surprising, Heir Potter." Baladeva waved his lack of knowledge off with an even deeper frown, "Hogwarts doesn't teach students about other cultures and their magic. The truth is that while Parseltongue is a rare here here in Magical Britain, in the rest of the world it is a bit more common. It would still be classed as rare, but here there are less than half a dozen people in the entire country possessing the skill. Have you seen Snake Charmers on TV, or know of them from somewhere?"

"Yes, I've seen a few of them on TV and on the streets."

"Well if they're Indian it's a safe bet to say they possessed the Parseltongue gift." The ambassador explained, "In my culture they are highly honored and respected. There are an innumerable amount of deadly snakes in our county and Parseltongues help to ensure they remain peaceful, and don't attack humans. This isn't just normal snakes, but also magical and even snakes demonic in origin. Those with this gift keep our country safe, and are highly regarded because of it."

"I can see why I would be valuable, but this would only come into play if I moved to India, which, no offense intended, is incredibly unlikely. So why make this offer?"

"Honestly? I would like your help within your Ministry of Magic when you come of age. As you can see, I am Indian Heir Potter, and because of this, many of the Purebloods in England look down on me. It has been exceptionally difficult to make any headway for our county. An alliance with you, The Boy-Who-Lived and, more importantly, future Lord Potter and Peverell, my job will get significantly easier."

"What is in it for Ha-I mean Heir Potter?" This was from Emma who, like the rest of her family, was listening in on what was being said with interest. "It looks to me like you're getting everything while he's getting nothing."

Baladeva smiled at this, he knew he had to be careful what he said. If the young Heir was alone, he would be offering his daughters, but with Muggles around he knew he would need to be careful of what he put on the table. He would keep his daughters in reserve for later. "My government has allowed me to give Heir Potter a Snake Charmer's Flute." Baladeva fully expected the confused looks, knowing they wouldn't realize the significance of this, so he continued without missing a beat. "A Snake Charmer's Flute is a very powerful magical object. A normal Snake Charmer's Flute can only summon one or two normal snakes and control them, but the more powerful Flutes can summon and control more snakes, depending on the Flute and how powerful the user is. It can do other things, but I'll leave what it can do for you to find out. I'll give you a hint, it all comes down to what music you play on the Flute. Normally these Flutes are given, loaned really, to those offering to fight off the wild snakes in India so they can protect themselves and the villages and towns nearby. The difference being yours would be yours to keep.

"The other thing I can offer is Parselmagic Books. These are uncommon, but not exceptionally hard to find if you put some effort into trying. That is, of course, the rule of thumb for everywhere else but here; they're near impossible to get. I will offer a copy of every Parselmagic book I can get my hands on." Baladeva paused as he considered something, "You may also wish to look into obtaining your own magical or demonic snake, not only will it help make the Parselmagic become stronger if you cast with it, you can also bind it to the Flute. This needs to be done willingly, and the Flute itself cannot be used to convince the creature. The snake's soul would become infused with the Flute, and empower it even further, allowing you to summon it wherever you are. This isn't necessary, but better safe than sorry."

Harry thought about this Alliance and what Baladeva was offering him, he liked the idea of the Snake Charmer's Flute, as he could summon all sorts of snakes to his side. The Parselmagic peaked his interested too; he had no idea such a thing existed. "I think you're still getting the better end of this, so throw in keeping me informed about the going ons in your Ministry, agreeing to a few favours without questions - within reason of course - and an agreement about helping each other if the other needs it and I think we have a deal."

The ambassador nodded, accepting the more than fair stipulation, to which Harry smiled and asked, "So how do we go about making this Alliance?"

And so Baladeva explained as he pulled out the paperwork that they would need to sign them; one copy for Harry, one for Baladeva and another set each for their respective country's Ministry of Magic and one for Gringotts, and have the Grangers witness the signing. It was about an hour later after signing the paperwork when they finally finished, and Baladeva was about to leave.

He had to deal with one last bit of business though. Turning to Harry he made his request, "Harry, I would like a personal favour; would you look after my daughters for me?"

Harry mulled this over, not against the idea, but his social situation would get in the way. "I would, but myself and anyone associated with me is currently shunned by the rest of the school. I can of course keep an eye on them from a distance, but that's all I can offer without bringing them into my group. Have a talk with them and see how they feel about joining me. I can't see them being completely okay with it, no matter how they feel since it would kill their social lives, potentially for the rest of their stay at Hogwarts." He explained.

"I understand." Baladeva nodded slowly. He had heard the stories from his daughters about what happened to Harry at Hogwarts, and understood exactly what Harry meant. However, he had plans for the young Heir though, so some discomfort on his daughters part was a fair price to pay. It's not like they wouldn't eventually get closer to him anyway, Baladeva was dead set on offering them at some point, and if they were already close to him Harry would be more attached and thus more inclined to agree, lest they be sold to someone else who can offer him something he wanted. "I shall explain the situation and they'll tell you of their decision on the train. At the same time they'll tell you why they are the way they are. Until we meet again, goodbye."

With that the ambassador bid them a farewell and left. Harry sighed, he really wished the politicking could have wait a few more years, decades preferably, but it looked like he was getting pulled into the fold early. Daphne was turning out to be a Godsend.

_**TO BE CONTINUED!**_

_**Authors Note:**_Is another chapter of Vulcan, I thank you for reading and I hope that you keep on reading and enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing this. If you did or did not, I hope that you'll spare a few more minutes and review, as I would like to hear what you think of the story so far and any ideas you might have.

I need a few simple favours for Baladeva to ask Harry, so he can give Harry items. I also need one big favour so that he could give his daughters to Harry. I've got a few ideas, but you might have better ones so please help. Also if you got ideas for what the Flute is able to do, please add them too. I also need ideas for Parselmagic spells too…

_**Omake Request:**_ I have a request for you, readers, I want someone to write an Omake for me based from this part of the last chapter:

Luna shook her head, cheerfully stating, "Oh no, I don't get what all the fuss is about. It's not like snakes talk about taking over the world." She looked suspiciously around before she leaned in and whispered, "That's what Owl's do!"

Harry laughed, finding the mental image of Supreme Commander Hedwig with a swagger stick in her mouth furiously barking out commands and slapping the stack against the map she'd set up with the attack plan on it, directing her troops to take over the US for their plentiful livestock. So many pigs, so much bacon…

I like the idea and I hope someone can write an Omake for it for me.

_**PLEASE LEAVE A GOOD SIZE REVIEW!**_


	10. Chapter 10 - Second Year: Part 2!

'_Thoughts!'_

_§ 'Parseltongue!' §_

_**Warning:**_Underage Lemon, Incest.

_**Chapter 10**_

_3rd of January:_

A week into the future found Harry and the Granger Girls on the Hogwarts Express. They were waiting to leave, the sister's were talking to each other while Harry thought about the last week before returning to Hogwarts. For Hermione and Melody, nothing of note had happened over the last week for the girls, but for Harry it was quite the interesting week. He'd finally got a chance to look over the chest Daphne gave him, as well as the books on Parseltongue Magic.

In the chest Harry found books and tomes about the Overlord of Evil, as well as a handful of other evil wizards out there. There were four ranks to evil, according to the material in the chest; Dark Wizards/Witches, the everyday kind of evil that would use Light and Dark magic for evil for their own gain; Dark Lord/Lady was the more powerful version of the Dark Wizards/Witches, not only were they more powerful, but they also lead the Dark Wizards/Witches. Then there were the Overlord of Evil, they were the most powerful of the evil people in the world, and are always male. However, these Overlord of Evil are rare, as they are very powerful and they rarely show up. One can live for thousands of years and not see one. The last of the Evils was The Source of all Evil, this was the most powerful of all evil. This could hardly be classed as a term though, since the Source of Evil was always the same being, an immortal demon that could possess and inhabit bodies. Some had tried to defeat the Source, whether to vanquish it or steal it's power didn't matter, because it was a truly immortal demon. It was the embodiment of a concept, something some would even refer to as a deity. How it could operate on the mortal plane was anybody's guess, but anyone who tried to fight it died and their powers were consumed which only made the Source stronger.

The last Overlord, known only as The Dark One perished roughly over two thousand years ago. The Dark One, as well as every Overlord, was feared by many, and for good reason. Not only was he very powerful, but he was somewhat of a mad scientist. The Dark One created what would be known as the Overlord's signature forces, despite being used by only him; the Minions. They were small, goblin like creatures that came in four different colours; Brown, Red, Green and Blue. Their colour governed what abilities they possessed.

The Dark One created a device called the Hive to summon the Minions, a different Hive for each Minion type. This device effectively made Minions immortal, albeit the worst kind of immortal since they could still die, but they could be brought back to life, or created from scratch using Lifeforce from a living creature. Harry could only assume Lifeforce was actually the souls of slain enemies, or maybe their magic, he really wasn't sure.

Although he did have humans and the minions, he didn't stop with just the minions though, The Dark One created dozens of spells, rituals, and even more creatures to do his bidding; most of these all far ahead of their time. Some believed he had access to a Seer, while others believed his insanity allowed him to see beyond the mental confines most mortal were trapped in, but nobody knew for sure.

All of this research was meticulously catalogued in the chest, and on top of the Shrunken, internally expanded filing cabinet, was a single armlet. It was fairly large, spanning Harry's entire forearm when he held up to his arm. This wasn't the only item in the chest, but it was the first to grab his attention. This was for a very good reason, because it was revealed the armlet, referred to only as the Gauntlet, was what gathered the Lifeforce, Souls, magic, or whatever the user preferred calling it, of the victims killed by the Overlord or one of his minions.

Harry wasn't interested in this though, what immediately caught his attention was another feature of the Gauntlet. Aside from granting him a number of abilities, all powered by Lifeforce - apart for bringing people back to life, that had to be done solely with his own magic - he could also summon and grant the dead corporeal bodies, as long as they stayed close to the user, within about fifty feet. This feature was only possible because the Dark One had slain and solidified the soul of a Whitelighter, only after he 'questioned' the Whitelighter, a guardian of witches known as Wickens and the dead, which was what the gem within the Gauntlet actually was. There was a note in the information about the Gauntlet telling the new user that the ability to temporarily bring back the dead _could _be used without paying any Lifeforce, but it would require a constant stream of power from the user, as opposed to one payment of Lifeforce per summoning.

Harry felt this was a fair trade and, with a promise to gather Lifeforce at the soonest opportunity, he didn't hesitate to summon the person he missed most.

_28th of December:_

It was the day after the visit from Ambassador Baladeva Patil and Harry found himself alone; Emma was downstairs while the others were seeing their grandparents. Seeing as he was unlikely to be disturbed, he decided to look through the trunk Daphne sent him.

Half an hour later he was behaving almost like Dobby as he clasped the Gauntlet in his hands, holding it to him like a lifeline. The Gauntlet itself was very ornate looking, covering the entire top of his forearm with a small, almost ceremonial looking blade that could extend forward. There was a two large jewels, a dark green gem and underneath it was a blood red gem, in the centre of the piece that were oval in shape and didn't appear to have a single flaw. There was a fleck of light within the gem, but it appeared to be very weak. From what he'd read this would glow brighter as he absorbed more Lifeforce.

Foolishly assuming he was powerful enough to shoulder the energy cost of summoning without Lifeforce, Harry immediately twisted the gem the proper way to activate the summoning ritual and called out the soul he wanted the energy to hook and drag back to the land of the living. "Lily Anne Potter née Evans!"

Just as Harry called her name the green jewel on the gauntlet started to glow, the light within it humming before it was released from the Gauntlet and formed a bright silhouette before him. A small portion of the light shot back into the gem as the light died down to reveal a stunningly gorgeous woman with red hair and striking green eyes just like his, wearing something that would have set his libido into overdrive but didn't only because of the shock of seeing his mother again. She was wearing a red babydoll negligee, which did nothing to hide the matching skimpy lace underwear she had on underneath.

When the redhead appeared she looked confused and frightened, as if she didn't know what was going on. She didn't see him at first, muttering a, "What's going here?" to herself before she finally saw Harry. She made to say something, but she paused before she took a closer look, her eyes immediately widening in shock. "Harry, is that you? How… how is this possible?" The fact that he had the same green eyes as her gave him away; she was still suffering from the side effects from the summoning and had almost mistaken him for James at first sight.

Harry couldn't believe it, it worked! He felt like his body was filled with lead, and he was getting even heavier, but he didn't care, he was seeing his mother again. Now that the initial shock wore off his libido pushed itself to the forefront and he took in exactly what she was wearing, as well as the amazing woman the clothes were draped over; Lily Potter had a body woman the world over would kill for, a pretty face, both her vivid hair and eyes making her all the more alluring, and her body was perfectly proportioned and curvy. Put bluntly, Lily was a MILF, and one Harry was instantly and completely smitten with. He didn't know if she died wearing what she was, or if the afterlife is a lot kinkier than he was lead to believe, but he was thankful for it all the same. "Yeah mum, it's me." Harry said thickly, both because of the pent up emotion already making his eyes water, and the exhaustion setting in.

Lily, equally teary eyes, stumbled forward unsteadily and wrapped her arms around him. Tears finally began falling as she held her son for the first time since her untimely death. "But how?" She whispered.

"Oh mum." Harry pulled her as close as he could, the small part of him that wasn't busy being so happy to see her was lusting over her breasts as his face was pressed into them. "I found a magical artefact that can bring the dead back, but only as long as they stay close." His hold grew tighter subconsciously, he didn't want to let go.

Lily knew that anything with the ability to do this would either be considered Dark, or actually _was _Dark, because even temporarily bringing someone back was not something that could be done without some kind of sacrifice, but she didn't care right now, she was with her son, a son that she hadn't seen since she died.

"Harry, are you okay?" She suddenly asked as she noticed he was starting to shake and exactly how pale he was getting. She meant to guide him down onto the bed, but ended up fumbling with her still uncoordinated motor skills and wound up sitting roughly side saddle on his lap. She blushed as she felt something poking her barely covered bottom, but easily waved it away because her son was both a teenager with his face pressed against a pair of large breasts and because of her concern for his well being.

Harry blinked slowly as he looked up at her, his eyes half lidded as bags started forming under them. "M'fine, needs lots'a energy to p'wer this." He slurred, attempting to lift his right arm, but only managed to move it a little bit before it went limp and fell from where it had been wrapped around her midsection to on her lap.

Lily looked down and saw the gem, instantly working out that the glow within it was the power source linking her to the mortal plane. The glow was growing visibly fainter, and she realized her son was running out of energy to power it, if he kept it up he could die. Best case scenario the artefact had a failsafe and he would just pass out and be laid up for a day with Magical Exhaustion.

She quickly placed her hands on his cheeks, gently lifting his head up to look her in the eye as she leaned closer. "Harry, sweety you need to release me. You can summon me again when you feel better, but the drain is too much, you may kill yourself if you keep me here for any longer!" She urged.

Harry nodded slowly, realizing through the haze what she meant. His magic level were rapidly approaching dangerous levels and the Gauntlet's failsafe would kick in a few seconds anyway. Wanting to do one last thing, Harry mustered his remaining energy and raised his hand and pulled her head towards his, and to Lily's shock, he mashed his lips against his mother's in a kiss that was definitely not one shared between a normal mother and son. It was a passionately kiss, only emphasized as Harry quickly reached up and groped her left breast, caressing it briefly, which was as long as he could.

He could only keep this up for a few seconds before he promptly fell back, fully drained of his magic and having no strength anymore to hold himself up, and Lily had gone rigid with shock so she was in no position to do so.

His erection pressing even harder against her with his new position, Lily realized all at once that her son's feelings for her were what most people would consider taboo, and his physical reaction to her and the actions he'd just taken, wasn't just because of teenage hormones, but because he was incredibly attracted to her and wanted her as a lover, and not as a mother, or maybe he wanted both. She had no idea how he was raised, she could think of a number of people that would have damaged her little boy enough during his formative years to have this happen; Petunia being one of them, as well as basically any complete Pureblood family. Some would actually see it as normal, whereas others would actually make him think it was acceptable to spite him. She'd been blaming Magicals for things since she turned eleven, it was only natural for her to shift the blame on this too.

"Oh." She gasped, an instant before her body glowed and exploded into flecks of light, which were all sucked right back into the gauntlet on Harry's arm. Some of his color returned as a portion of his magic was recycled back into him, but he wouldn't be waking up for a while.

But before the darkness took him, he vowed to become stronger no matter what, he would become stronger so that he could call his mother again and claim her as his.

Unknown to him, the Gauntlets he used sent out a signal to a tower deep down in the Netherworld, activating it and awakening the Minions within so they could begin to fix up the Tower in preparation for their new pre-teen Master.

It would be some time before they would be able to collect their Master though; there was a lot to do beforehand, not to mention two thousand years of dust would be tough even for the fastests of House Elves, with their specialized magic to clean, much less Minions, creatures barely smart enough to make fire when they weren't being commanded by an Overlord.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_Harry found himself back in his Mindscape, which was rapidly changing before his eyes into his room at the Granger's. Seeing this, he knew he was still unconscious because Lucy was straddling him looking almost euphoric._

"_I summoned her." Harry said, not able to keep his own excited smile off his face. He hardly believed that it worked! Granted he couldn't keep her with him for more than a few minutes, but he was able to summon her._

"_You didn't just summon her for a few minutes, you did something even better!" Lucy happily exclaimed , bouncing lightly. "When the summoning was released the Gauntlet trapped Mum's soul inside the green jewel, so not only will it be easier to summon her in the future, but it should also act as a sort of pseudo soul bond between the Gauntlet, and by extension you, and mum. I would suggest we wait until you're stronger before you try summon her though. This feature should boost the duration of her summon from three to ten minutes, but I know you well enough to say that ten minutes isn't nearly enough time for all the things you want to do with her, especially since you would only be wide awake for about five minutes before the drain starts to affect you." However, what she didn't tell him was that he could use the Lifeforce of others to lengthen the time they had, not by much, but enough to talk to each other. It would have worked as a sufficient stopgap until he was magically strong to summon her for hours on end, and eventually months before needing to rest for a while._

_This was a risk though. Harry saw his mother in a light most reserved for saints, and it was entirely possible she could, with work, lead him back onto the path of Good. It almost physically hurt Lucy to withhold this information, seeing as her feelings for their mother mirrored her brothers, but she had priorities, and Lily attempting to pull him 'back to the light' was just barely higher, just enough to allow her to hold her tongue. Lucy couldn't allow their mother make Harry a force for good, not after all the time she spent making him the way he was now, as a result she began to wonder if she could alter the Gauntlet in some way so that it corrupted him, rather than draining the Lifeforce. She dismissed this as she had no idea if any of it was possible, whether Harry would be able to tell that she altered it, or if it was even remotely safe; she could end up eroding his magical pathways for all she knew._

_He was nearly to the point of true darkness, the point where she wished him to be, but there were still a few hurdles before he was there. Mainly himself, he had friends that he didn't want to show his true dark side, not counting Melody, and so he tried to keep it at bay. He didn't have any true friends for a long time yet, and didn't want to lose them because of his true nature, and so would rather hide who he truly was then show them his real self. Lucy knew it was only matter of time though, it would only take one exceedingly bad day, or another stretch of public isolation like what was already happening before he would become the person he was meant to be. Lucy would wait, she knew it wouldn't be long before the whole world would find out who Harry truly was and they would know true fear when everything they had was taken away from them by her beloved brother._

_She felt a surge of dark pleasure and delight at the knowledge that Harry would always lust after Lily though, no matter what she tried to do. Lucy's presence had already affected him too much; where most saw incest as a major turn off, Harry felt the opposite, to him it was an incredible turn on to think and feel what others would consider a taboo._

_Harry's resolve hardened even further, his promise to grow stronger even more important now. "Yeah, this is our mum we're talking about, she deserves more than ten minutes. I want to spend hours with her."_

_Lucy shivered at her brother look, she was so happy with how he was developing. "I agree, but you don't have to go into this blind. The Gauntlet makes a link with its user, so I can access the memory banks where mum's body is stored. You know what they say, practice makes perfect…" She grinned wider and wider as her giddy bounces changed into an aroused grinding of her hips, her hair flashing red to give him a hint._

_Harry's eyes widened and his breath actually hitched at what she'd revealed. "Change. Now!" He demanded immediately._

_Lucy was more than happy to comply, her form shifting, filling out a great deal to look like their mother, and her previously nude body was even being covered by the same clothes that their mother had on when Harry summoned her. She grinned smugly, "Who's the best sister ev-"_

_**Lemon Begins: Skip if you're underage or not into this kind of thing!**_

_That was about as far as she got before Harry pushed her on her back and attacked her mouth with his own, his arousal finding her covered slit, pressing and grinding against it roughly._

"_Oh you are a naughty boy, aren't you?" Lucy said using Lily's voice as she pulled away from the kiss, "You want to fuck your own mother, what a twisted boy you are."_

_Yet again, Harry didn't say anything apart from a rushed 'Yes I am,' before he attacked her mouth once again, slipping his hand down her knickers. Once he got his hand into her knickers, he inserted two of his fingers into her pussy without hesitation before he began pumping them in and out. His other hand was in her hair, roughly grabbing it while he pushed his tongue down 'Lily's' throat._

_Harry lost himself in the feeling of kissing his 'mother,' it didn't help that she was moaning in pleasure at his actions. As he pulled out of the kiss, he said still with his hand down her panties, "Do you like this mom? Being kissed by your son and having his fingers in your cunt?" Harry asked her lustfully, "Or do you want more? Do you want me to fuck you?"_

"_Oh please son, fuck me, be a good son and fuck me!" Lily moaned in pleasure, "Its been too long since I felt something big and warm inside. Take me and make me yours!"_

_That was all it took, as Harry's arousal took hold he attacked her mouth once again, but as he did, he pulled his finger from her pussy - making her moan in disappointment, and used it to grab her teddy and rip it off her chest with a sharp pull, carelessly throwing it over his shoulder. Even before the piece of ripped clothed fell to the ground did he remove his mouth from hers and moved his assault down towards her breasts. He began to lick and bite one breast as he groped the other, pinching the nipple. All the while she was moaning like a cat in heat, clearly showing that she loved the rough treatment. After a while, Harry switched to her other breast, Lily's moans only increasing, now intermixed with cries to be fucked, but her 'son' wouldn't allow it. All he cared about was exploring her body as much as he could from top to bottom, but his fingers did pick up the pace, jabbing into her even more roughly._

_Before long Harry stopped, pulling back and leaving Lily gasping for air and her hips twitching, like they were trying to find his fingers again. He didn't bow to their silent request though and instead began kissing a trail down her voluptuous body. When he got to her knickers, he hooked his thumb around them and tore them off her, gazing at her pussy for several long moments. Lily whimpered, and that was like a starting gun for him as he eagerly dove in and began eating her out. Lily wasn't idle as he did this, her hands grabbing at her own bust and roughly tying with them._

_Harry hadn't even realized it until now, but Lily was absolutely drenched, having cum several times from his actions. She came again the second he latched his mouth onto her pussy and he was very pleased with the taste, licking and sucking at her lips even harder. "Please, I need that hard long cock in me, it's been so long. Please fuck me!" Lily begged once she'd regained her voice._

_If it wasn't for the fact that he wanted to fuck her so much he would have continued with the foreplay, demanding she pleasure him first, but he couldn't wait anymore. "Alright then, I'll give you what you want so much, but you need to get on all fours so I can fuck you like a bitch."_

_Harry reluctantly leaned back away from her so she could get up, which she did without hesitation, all too happy to get on all fours so her son could fuck her. When she was in position Harry took another several long moments to drink in the sight of his mother's large ass gently swaying back and forth, belaying the desperate need barely contained in her body. Almost reverently crawling up her body he meant to tease the head of his cock against her pussy, but ended up surprising both of them when the second their sexes made contact his hips jerked forward, burying him to the hilt in her pussy without any warning. Words were impossible for either of them as they both moaned deeply, a phenomenon that was only extended as Harry's hips began hammering back and forth as fast as they could move._

_As he was fucking her, he heard Lily cry out, "Oh yes son, just like that, cum into your mother, make her into you cum slut. Go faster and harder, show me what a man you really are."_

_Harry was all too happy to make his mother's wishes become true, so he took her sides and began to fuck her faster and harder. "Yes like that son," Lily moaned, "cum in me."_

"_Oh mum." Harry moaned as he felt the pleasure building up._

_Harry grunted and pounded his hips into her just a scant few seconds after she moaned and arched her back. The beautiful redhead moaned even harder as she felt her son's seed start firing into her. After their orgasms they laid next to each other, side by side. Lily eventually looked at him lustfully and challenged, "That can't be all you have, why don't you show me what you really can do to a women. Make me your bitch, I dare you."_

_**Lemon Ends: Read from here if you skipped the Lemon!**_

_Harry was all too happy to show his mother what he could do, and demonstrated his stamina and prowess for the next few hours. When they finally finished Harry laid next to her, and 'Lily' transformed back to Lucy. Harry was actually caught off guard by this for a second; in his state of heightened arousal he'd completely forgotten it was Lucy. It was about this time he saw the signs that he was waking up, and he promised himself to reward Lucy somehow. She really was the best sister ever._

_3rd of January:_

Harry remembered when woke up a few hours later, feeling drained and ill, he found himself surrounded by the Granger women fussing over him. A quick check revealed his was still wearing the Gauntlet, so he knew they would suspect something if he said nothing was wrong. So he made up some half lie that he was trying out the Gauntlet to see if he could make it work. They didn't ask what it did, thankfully, and Harry saw Melody's hand atop the closed trunk, meaning she'd likely found him first and closed it so Hermione and Emma couldn't read what was inside. That in mind, Harry told them that he just didn't have enough power to fully activate it, and had passed out because of the drain.

After that for the next few days, he wasn't allowed to do any magic, nor was he allowed to test any of the other items, as it might drain him of his power and cause permanent damage or they might have been cursed. So Harry was left to reading the research of the Dark One and the Parseltongue Magic books, this didn't bother Harry that much, as he wanted to see if he could find ways to get stronger anyway.

The Dark One's research and the other books within the chest gave Harry quite a few ideas, but he needed a few items before he could anything. So he owl ordered the items that he needed for now, though he would have to the rest back at Hogwarts because he needed to use his wand. As he looked through the chest he came to find that while most of the contents were created by the Dark One, a good portion of the items were merely created _for _him - or people like him - by other people. Then there were items that were made by past Overlords and Fire Elementals.

It didn't take long to realize he was far from the first person to open the chest. He saw some of the Dark One's incomplete research projects, left that was because of his death or due to the limitations of his time.

Not only that, but notes from past Fire Elementals. For instance, one Elemental had notes about the legend of the Peverell Brothers and the items they were supposed to have received from Death. They don't know if the story was true or not, as they found only a fraction of the Dark Ones notes on the wand inside the chest at the time, notes that weren't there when the Dark One was defeated. They suspected that the Peverell Brothers stole or found these notes, and each created an item of power that would be known as the Deathly Hallows. The story was either a cover, or the notes were actually found by the person who went by Death and granted them three prototype items to test, hence the story.

The Peverell Brothers were while brilliant, they were no match for the Dark One when it came to invention. The finished products were powerful, but they didn't hold a candle to what the Dark One could have made.

But there was something to be said about legends, and with so many people believing that the Peverells met Death, it was hard to say which version of the tale was true. In truth Harry didn't really care, all he cared was the Dark One's items that were stronger than the so called Deathly Hallows. He wanted to find the item that made the Dark One invisible and see what else it could do.

The most interesting thing that Harry read about was about the Sisterhood of the Overlord. Not the most inventive name, but Harry supposed it did the job. There were stories of Overlords having a secret Sisterhood, who helped him with many things, but mainly with his research. This Sisterhood was the main reason he was so powerful, as he used sex rituals to become stronger - all of which were safely housed and clearly readable inside the chest.

This brought to Harry another idea of becoming stronger; having his own Sisterhood, and using these rituals to gain more power. He knew he could use some on Melody, but she was one girl and he could only do so much with her; he would need more girls and ladies to gain more power. But before he could even think of starting this Sisterhood, he would need to become more powerful, not only magically, but he also needed more money. He would need to gather more of anything that could be used to tempt Sisters to join him, and the two most influential things in the world were money and power.

Harry shook his head when he discovered how the Dark One died; he, like many before him, had tried to kill and become the Source of All Evil. This was obviously near impossible - The Dark One may have been powerful, but not even he had the skills nor the power to do what many tried before - and Because of this he doomed the Overlord title and was killed by the Source of All Evil himself. There were plenty of people strong or evil enough to gain the position, but none of them had these things at the same time, and a few who were, didn't have the potential to fulfil the role. That was on top of the fact that the minions of the Source made sure to lock away or destroy anything that could be used to get them into the Overlord's Tower.

The Parseltongue books were far more straightforward. If you weren't a Parselmouth, you couldn't read the books, instead seeing strange, moving squiggles on the pages that were known to give people migraines.

Most of the spells within the books were ordinary, everyday spells that most everyday magical folk knew. Although most of them could be done with a wand, and they were even more powerful or effective at what they did than the regular variety, there were a few that can be done wandlessly, at the cost of being less powerful (how powerful it was depended on how experienced the user was), and were all the same colour. So any spell, from a Tickling Charm to a Piercing Hex, were all emerald green, which made them very unpredictable in a fight. Some of the spells, like Stunning and Leg Locking spells for instance, couldn't be countered with the normal counter spells, they needed to be countered with even stronger spells. The victim could also overcharge the normal counters, but that wasted both time and magic.

Harry also found that there were a few Parseltongue rituals; one of the more obvious ones that caught his eye would enhance his physical strength. The ritual bragged that it would grant the user the same kind of strength that drinking Re'em's blood would give, which made sense since, from the picture the instructions were painting, it simply involved purifying a vial of Re'em's blood so it was safe to drink, and making the boost permanent.

Harry was surprised to find there was a scroll with music for the Flute he'd received; it was a song that could summon a magical snake that could steal magic and give it to the user of the Flute. However, the snake could only steal so much magic at a time, and give only a portion of it back to the user because the snake itself needed quite a bit to keep itself going. It could also only be summoned twice a week, so while it _was_ a great way to get stronger, he wasn't going to be getting any massive boosts from it. Harry already had the perfect victims in mind who's sudden increase of incompetence wouldn't be noticed.

In the end it was the best method anyway; large jumps in magical power would be noticed, a steady and constant stream of small growth could be written off as him growing into his magic.

More recently, two interesting events had happened. The first was that Harry had walked in on Emma masturbating one night when everyone was asleep. It was a few days after Emma saw him masturbating, late night and Harry woke up to go to the loo. When he opened the door to the bathroom he was shocked to see Emma naked and having a bath. She must not have heard the door open, because as she was masturbating she didn't cover herself or stop.

Harry had seen Emma naked before, and due to laying down in the bathtub he really couldn't see anything, but the situation and her expression more than made up for it. Not to mention she was whispering to herself to go harder, faster and commenting about whoever she was dreaming about was hitting just the right spot.

Harry used her orgasm to slip away, knowing she would be sufficiently distracted so there was no way she would hear the door close. Unfortunately, Emma finished up her bath not soon after and, since she was awake, Harry couldn't risk waking Melody up to take care of his arousal, lest Emma hear them.

The rest of the holidays saw an increase in the amount of dreams featuring Emma, but it was on New Years Eve that things changed even more for Harry. It was a few hours before midnight, and the Grangers had their family around for a New Year's party. Things were going well, the rest of the Granger family seemed to like Harry as well. However, during the night they were running out of wine so Dan asked him to run up to their room and get the extra they'd purchased just in case they ran out of what they had on hand. While searching for the wine Harry found something interesting; Emma's diary

He knew that he shouldn't, but he was curious as to what was in it and so began to read. He just skimmed a few pages, at first there was nothing of interest. Mainly her feelings, and how upset she was that she wasn't getting nearly as much sex as she would have liked; apparently it had been years since she'd been given a good shagging, according to one entry, since shortly after Melody was born and Dan had his accident making it near impossible to have sex again.

He was about to close the book when he saw his own name start to appear. Emma was hesitant at first, but she definitely felt that he was handsome, and her feelings for him were perhaps greater than what they should be, or what was proper. She wrote out several of her dreams about a 'what if' scenario in which she didn't flee from the bathroom when she caught him masturbating, and instead continued their first lesson, teaching him even more.

The latest entry was a few days ago, the night that Harry caught her masturbating. He was surprised to find out that she _had_ seen him, but had been feeling particularly naughty and decided to give him a show, immersing herself back into her fantasy with no regard for his presence. If anything she was even more turned on, and got off hard knowing she was giving Harry wet dreams of his own.

Harry could hardly believe it; Emma liked him and lusted after him, but there it was in black and white. It was then that an idea came to him, the thought of owning another part of the set, a mother to the daughter he had, gave him the needed push. With a twirl of his hand, a hissed spell, and the pleasant thrum of his magic being used, her diary was enchanted with a weak lust spell.

Harry remembered it specifically because of how obscure it was due to how it worked; the spells effects would only affect the victim if they were in physical contact with the enchanted item regularly, but could accordingly only be placed on an item. Emma's diary was perfect, and he walked back to the party, diary back in place and wine firmly in hand, with an eager smile on his face.

Before he could think more about his holidays his thoughts were interrupted by the door of the compartment opening, revealing the Patil Twins. They were wearing traditional Indian female clothes, Saree, blood red in colour with small gold floral patterns woven into it. Harry had never seen them dressed like this before, but approved completely as he saw how well they wore the clothes - he thought that they look hot in them.

"Hey girls, how are you two?" Harry inquired as he saw them.

"We're fine Harry." Padma began, "We were looking for you, actually. Our father told us about the favour he asked you - to look out for us - and explained we should think about joining your group."

It was more like their father _told_ them to join them or he would seriously consider selling them to someone like the Malfoys, where they would be turned into nothing more than sex toys for however long they continued being interesting before being discarded. Their father was a typical Indian Man, who believed that men in the family were important and women were just used to get what they wanted. If they wanted something, and they thought that their daughters, even their wives, once they produced a Male Heir, could get what they wanted by selling them to other people. They knew that their father had plans for Harry and somehow they were part of it, they wanted to tell Harry, but their father foresaw that, and threatened them with slavery again if they told him. Personally neither sister cared much. Parvati had a more active social life, but aside from Lavender she didn't have any real friends, just gossip buddies. So they really weren't losing much. That didn't mean they wanted to be sold as sex toys to people like Malfoy, or some old man, so they would keep mum about what their father was up to.

"So after some thought we decided to join you." Parvati said this time, "If you don't mind that is."

"Of course I don't mind." Harry replied easily, gesturing towards the benches for them to sit.

He suspect they agreed to this was because of their father; he didn't think they would just give up what they had in their Houses. But why their father would make them do it, Harry could only guess. Maybe he had something planned for him and wanted his daughters to keep him informed on Harry's activities?

Regardless of his reasons Harry wasn't that bothered, he would cross that bridge when he came to it. For now he voiced his opinion on the matter at hand, "It certainly makes things easier if you're around more, so allow me to welcome you to the Outcasts." He said with a smile as the train began to move. Part of the way through the trip Daphne joined them.

It wasn't long before they returned to Hogwarts, with so few people on the train, it was kind of nice. They didn't have to bother with Malfoy's visit, or Ron's for that matter, and no whispers about them going dark. When they got to Hogwarts, the rest of the evening went without incident, and the Outcasts all stayed in their tower, welcoming their newest additions.

_**o0OoO0o**_

While everyone else went to sleep Harry slipped into the Study Room part of his trunk; up 'til now he never used it. At Hogwarts he had the giant school library to use for a study area and to meet up with his friends. When he was with the Grangers he was spending time relaxing. Now though he finally had a reason to use it; to spy on Emma.

It was an idea he had literally right when he was finishing packing the night before getting on the express. A rushed look through his new books revealed the appropriate rune cluster and when no one was there he snuck into Emma's room and bathroom to enchant her mirrors so he could see her naked, and spy on her when she was masturbating. He found the runes in one of the Parseltongue Books. Harry did run into a problem when he realized he didn't know anything about runes, but he knew enough to make runes, so he copied them from the book onto the mirror. Still, even a faulty rune cluster was better than nothing, and he didn't have anything to lose if they didn't take. After that it was easier to carve the 'receiver' runes onto a mirror in his study.

So here he was, in his personal study sitting in front of the enchanted and hoping that he would see Emma as he opened the pathway between the two mirrors. The bathroom was empty, but when he switched to the bedroom he smiled as he saw Emma in front of her make-up mirror fingering herself. She was also saying something, but without sound he could only attempt to lip read, which would require he pay more attention to her lips than anything. _'I need to learn how to use these runes right.' _Harry promised to himself.

He was so focused on the sexy imagery in front of him he didn't hear the trunk opening, or someone enter his study. He was only made aware of their presence when they spoke up, "Master, is that my mother masturbating in the mirror?"

"Melody?" Harry said in shock. He absently remembered telling her about the features of the trunk over holidays because he wanted her to drop by, just like she was now, for some time together. He didn't expect her first visit to be so soon, or right now. "Well, this is awkward."

"On the contrary," Melody said as she knelt in front of him, her hands reaching up and stroking him on what may as well have been instinct at this point. "I've been having fantasies about fucking you in front of mum for a while now, but at the same time I didn't know if she would approve." She sent him a look filled with adoration as her hands squeezed tighter, "I have the best Master ever." She claimed as her eyes drifted over towards her mother.

Harry couldn't believe his luck, he assumed Melody would be mad at him for watching her mother masturbating, or at the very least annoyed. But it looked like he'd underestimated just how kinky his Apprentice was. It wasn't long before Harry cancelled the mirror connection and tossed Melody onto the nearby desk for a proper shagging. Both of them left the trunk hours later in need of showers and sleep.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_18th of January:_

Two weeks after Harry and the Granger sisters returned to Hogwarts and there hadn't been an attack since. This, frankly, was making Harry more paranoid than it did calm him down. Not only because it only made him a more likely suspect, but also because there was no cause for the Heir to stop, so that could only mean there would be an attack coming eventually. So far life was returning to normal for them and the rest of the Outcasts though, continued social shunning aside. They went to class, drudged their way through homework, and spent most of their free time hanging out. Well, everyone but Melody and Harry, who spent most of their free time in Harry's trunk fucking in front of the active mirror whenever Emma was on the other side. Now that they had a place they could have sex without worrying about being spotted they were taking full advantage of it.

Their favourite class turned out to actually be the Duelling Club, which would have been optional, but Lockhart made it into a required event by lumping the DADA and DC grades together. Just because Lockhart was awful at Defence didn't mean he didn't know his way around a duelling ring. At the moment he was making them build up their stamina by doing laps around the Great Hall. Malfoy was one of the many purebloods that demanded to know why they needed to do all this running. Lockhart took the arrogant tone in stride and explained that having more stamina would make them last longer in a fight. Spells were important to know, but being able to outlast your opponent was even more important in the long run. Not to mention, he explained, harder to cast spells took time, something you didn't have in most fights unless you distracted your opponent, which was a higher level strategy anyway, so they would work their way up.

In what little time wasn't spent socializing with the Outcasts or doing schoolwork Harry was piecing together one of the Dark One's research project. It was a certain unfinished project that the last Overlord never quite got around to physically building, or naming; the working name was the Orb of Recycled Magic. The Orb would slowly absorb the magic around it, how long it took to charge fully depended on where it was placed and how large the Orb itself was built, but in Hogwarts he didn't see it taking too long, comparatively speaking. Once it was filled up he, or anyone he trusted, could absorb the power from the Orb. Harry had managed to partially make a large orb, and hid it in one of the many empty classrooms inside a random desk. He planned, once it was finished, on charging it for a few months so he could give some power to everyone. There were other, quicker ways to charge the Orb, but he hadn't gotten that far in the notes yet, so the current method would have to do until he got some more time.

He also made sure to spend some time with the newest Outcasts, and he was pleasantly surprised when he began getting to know them. Parvati, though she enjoyed gossip, it was mostly an act; an act of convenience at that. Her job was to inform her father of any useful information Hogwarts contained, and being a gossip naturally lead her right to this information. Padma was the same, but while her sister's focus was people, Padma's job was to learn as much as she could about the castle itself. This was significantly easier because she was a Ravenclaw; so when she asked very specific questions like how the castle worked she was just a Claw being a Claw.

This continued until the 18th, it was a normal school day starting with Herbology with Hufflepuff in the morning and ending in the afternoon with Charms with the Ravenclaw. Harry and Hermione had to wait for Melody's class to finish before they could meet up with her, so they spent their time in the Outcast Tower, but she never appeared, so they went down to the Great Hall to have dinner, hoping to see her there.

They made it to the Entrance Hall before they heard McGonagall call out, "Miss Granger, please wait!"

As the teens stopped and turned around Harry could see the grim look on the Professor's face. That was all Harry needed to see to know something happened. "Is she alive?" Harry asked suddenly.

Hermione looked at Harry strangely, not catching on to what was wrong, "Harry what's wrong?"

"Melody, she's been attacked." Harry said grimly.

"Don't be silly she couldn't-" Hermione began shakily, only to see the look in her favorite Professor's eyes; shock and sadness. "What happened?" The bushy haired girl asked, a growing sense of dread.

"I'm sorry to inform you, Miss Granger, that your sister was found petrified on the second floor." Professor McGonagall announced sadly.

"C-Can I see her?" Hermione requested as she began to cry.

"Of course, Miss Granger." Minerva accepted softly. "That's why I came to get you. You too can come if you wish, Mr. Potter, I know you're close to Miss Granger as well." She told Harry, knowing the young man would be included in the journey to the Hospital Wing one way or another

"Thank you, Professor." Harry said, giving his friend a one armed hug, "I don't think Hermione should be left alone right now."

"Very true Mr. Potter."

The two followed the McGonagall to the Hospital Wing. Hermione was rapidly losing her composure as reality set in, just as Harry was seated next to her, seething but doing his best to comfort her. _'I'll kill them, whoever they are, I'll kill them.' _He promised himself. It was a small comfort, but it was enough, for now.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_21st of January:_

A few days after Melody was attacked Hermione, Harry and Luna were the only ones really affected by her petrification. The other Outcasts were concerned, but they weren't close enough to know her as well as the three did. Hermione was the worst, crying often and barely touching her school work, opting instead to spend her time by her sister's side. She even wrote to her parents about it, but that turned out to do more harm than good because the Grangers, being Muggles, couldn't even enter Hogwarts unless special permissions and methods were used, all of which were denied when they were requested, so the horrified parents could do nothing but worry for the fate of their youngest. The best they could do was ask Hermione, and Harry via P.S, to keep them informed.

Luna was worried about her friend, Melody was an even better best friend than her last one, Ginevra Weasley, who stopped talking to her a shortly before starting Hogwarts. Luna felt lost without Melody, and she hoped she would recover soon.

Harry was different; while he visited Melody as often as he could as well, he distanced himself from everyone. Mostly emotionally, since they all lived so close, but he didn't make any attempts to socialize, and when he did it was always someone else initiating the encounter.

The only real good thing to come out of it was that people were beginning to stop thinking that he was behind the attacks. Then of course seemingly fate herself decided to get put _that _to a stop, because it didn't last very long.

It was Thursday afternoon and Harry and Hermione had finished Transfiguration. Hermione went to visit her sister again, while Harry went down to the Great Hall to get her something to eat, knowing she wouldn't be doing it herself. Just as Harry entered the Great Hall he heard Ron saying, "I'm telling you it's a ruse, Potter attacked Granger himself!"

"And why would he do that?" Dean asked sceptically, "We might not see eye to eye with him, but I don't see him attacking his own friend."

"Exactly! He wants us to fall for it!" Ron exclaimed, "Who would suspect him of it, no one! I'm telling you he did it to throw us off his trail, he wants to keep attacking without worry being caught. It's all a ruse, he just attacked his whore to get our pity. Probably taking advantage of Hermione in her grief too."

That last part aside, his argument just told his audience what they wanted to hear, and it even made sense, so everyone was all set to get right back to shunning and fear/hating him and his friends again. If Harry would have defended himself, showed people how affected he was in a way that wasn't violent rage, despite that being a perfectly normal reaction for a teenage boy, maybe he would have swayed some minds. But he didn't, instead Harry stood stock still for several seconds before something seemed to snap inside him and he marched over to the redhead. Ron heard the footsteps, and wrongly assumed it was a teacher coming over to cover up his 'truth'. His mistake was instantly punished by Harry's fist slamming into his nose with a wet crunch.

Harry remained silent, far too enraged to even say anything and, to be honest, the good portion of the school that had witnessed him break Ron's nose would have let it slide let slide, at this point Harry was only defended his honour. That is, until Harry raised his heel and viciously drove it into the downed Ron's stomach.

The Weasley Twins, a few seconds behind Harry, were in full agreement of Harry's actions, even the additional blows once their brother was already on the ground, but they could see the reaction it was causing in the students and were quick to pull Harry back. It was bad enough already that his actions, although understandable in a way, were suggesting to others that Harry was stopping Ron from telling them more truths, instead of just venting his anger like he actually was, they didn't want them to come to even worse conclusions.

They weren't quite quick enough. Before they could pull Harry away McGonagall entered the Great Hall and saw Harry's last strike. "Mr. Potter, get off Mr. Weasley this instant!" She cried, marching over.

Hearing her voice snapped Harry out of it, allowing the twins to finally pull him off their brother just as McGonagall reached them. "A week's detention, Mr. Potter, for the assault on Mr. Weasley. Now tell me, why would you attack Mr. Weasley like that?"

"Ronald," Harry started, using his full name like a curse, and because there were other Weaselys present. "accused me of attacking Melody. He also called her a whore."

"Fifty Points from Gryffindor, Mr. Weasley for the accusation and naming calling." McGonagall declared, glowering down at Ron before she turned her attention back to Harry. "That didn't give you the right to attack Mr. Weasley. Be at my office to at six tonight."

Harry looked at her in disgust, shaking his head. "Yes, because taking _points _is really going to stop someone as stupid as Ron. At least my way he'll be too busy crying like a baby to be his usual unpleasant self." He spat, grabbing a plate of food for Hermione and leaving before McGonagall, who was too shocked that a student had talked back to her, could respond, heading back towards the Outcast Tower.

By the time he returned to the Tower he saw Blaise with his bags waiting at entrance. Thoroughly curious, Harry asked, "Blaise, what's going on?"

"I'm sorry Harry, but I'm leaving." Blaise explained. "I saw what happened down in Great Hall and I've decided that the 'Slytherin' way to do things right now is to distance myself from you and the others. I don't know if you're really behind the attacks, but at this point it doesn't even matter. If I want to stay neutral I can't be seen with anyone as heavily involved as you. Maybe when this is all over things might go back to the way they were, but for now this is for the best." He turned to look at Daphne, offering a hand for her to come with, "You coming with, Daphne? You're painting a huge target on yourself here, Pureblood or not."

Daphne shook her head, glaring lightly at him. "I'm sick of being a 'neutral', we both know it's just interchangeable with coward most of the time. I like where I am now, I can't go back to what things were like before. I hope you realize how much of a mistake you're making soon."

Blaise sighed, but just as Daphne had, he stayed by his decision. Picking up his trunk he began walking away without another word.

Once he was out of sight and earshot Daphne, visibly saddened by her friends abandonment. "I'm sorry about Blaise, that's just the way he is; he avoids problems when things get tough because he's usually not allowed any other option. Somewhere along the line it just became part of him…"

"It's… alright, it's his choice." Harry replied, feeling betrayed despite his seemingly blasé response. Blaise, though not outright saying it, still said it clearly enough through his actions; he thought Harry was behind the attacks. His trust in his supposedly unshakable rock, the Outcasts, took a hit that would likely never heal. If one of the Outcasts thought he was behind it, were there other in his circle of friends that did? He tried to cut off that line of thought before he started fraying at the edges, but it began boiling in the back of his mind. "I'm… going to my room." He sighed, handing the plate over to Daphne before he made his way towards his room. He didn't need to explain what it was for, since he'd been making sure Hermione was taken care of since the attack.

Stepping into his quarters Harry was greeted by his Familiar, Aneira, laying on his bed. "Hey girl, looks like you and Hedwig are the only ones I can trust." Harry attempted to say jovially, but ended up sounding just as depressed and distraught as he was becoming. Aneira, in true feline fashion, instead of concern gave him the evil eye, her expression seeming to say, 'So you decided to take some notice of me now that your mate's been taken away.'

Harry sighed again, his mood dropping even further as he realized he really hadn't been paying his two animal friends much attention since he and Melody had made the final step. "I know, I know, I haven't spent as much time with you two as I should, but it's not like we never spend time together, when I'm studying you're always hogging my lap."

Harry sat down on his bed, and after a few seconds Aneira let out an accepting meow and laid in his lap, forgiving him for at least some of his crimes. Seeing as she was still annoyed with him, Harry decided to add, "Tell you what, how's about we form that Familiar Bond we've been meaning to get around to this weekend. We'll both be sick as a dog for a few days, so me, you and Hedwig can all spend it together."

Aneira seemed very interested in the idea, but scowled up at him as he mentioned Hedwig, not because she was going to be there, but rather… Harry rolled his eyes. "Yes, that means you're going to have to put up with Hedwig gloating about never getting sick and bragging about her 'perfect' immune system and how all felines are weak little kittens."

Harry didn't think cats could groan, but Aneira seemed to pull it off as she let her head fall back onto his lap and glared at the wall. Damned avians…

Harry spent the time until his detention talking with Aneira and getting her caught up on things. His detention lasted two hours, extended by an hour for talking back to her at dinner, and Harry came back to find Aneira and Hedwig in one of their standard staring matches. Having the scars to prove interrupting one of them was a bad idea, Harry grabbed a book and settled in to wait to begin bonding with his friends once they were finished.

_**o0OoO0o**_

Until then, the Outcasts actually hadn't done any research on the warning that Dobby told them, nor did they look into the Basilisk they suspected was attacking the students. The reason behind this being that it wasn't their problem; they were students, by all rights they _should _have been allowed to leave it to the Hogwarts staff to figure out and stop, it wasn't their job to protect the students. Not to mention the kind of treatment they were all getting, it didn't lend itself well to selfless acts of any kind, much less one as big as saving the school.

But thing were different now, someone from their group had been attacked, they were going to find out what was behind it and tell the staff, and if need be, handle it themselves. Hermione wanted to do this so she could get whoever attacked her sister, Harry wanted to do it because it would tell him who was behind it all, and unlike Hermione he fully planned on going through with tearing them limb from limb for taking what was his.

The first thing they did was make sure it was a Basilisk attacking the Muggleborns, and not some other kind of creature. The lack of spiders and the rooster deaths were both pretty clear indicators; spiders ran from the King of the Snakes, and Rosters could kill it with their crow, so the absence of both was good enough evidence for them to feel confident they knew what they were facing.

Finding what was attacking the students was the easy part, it only took a few hours to look up in the school library; they already knew all they needed to know not even 24 hours after Melody had been placed in the Hospital Wing. Finding out who was killed around fifty years ago was the hard part because they didn't have an exact date, so they had to refine their search.

After what Ron said, Harry decided that Ron had so graciously volunteered to be the first victim of the magical parasite he could summon twice a week, so whenever he could Harry ordered the snake to tear out a portion of Ron's magic and give it to him. Ron would have recovered, and there were no permanent side effects of this, but temporarily Ron barely had enough to cast spells in class, not to mention he was physically weaker, so he did even worse in Lockhart's classes, and herbology became a nightmare for him as the plants seemed to sense his weakness and began tossing him around. Granted one would be hard pressed to see much of a difference, considering Ron was nearly always dancing on the edge of failing anyway. Harry also used the snake on Draco and his goons a few times, but seeing Ron flounder around in class was just too entertaining to stop.

Then during the weekend, Harry performed the Familiar Bond with Aneira, and like he said, both of them were weak and ill for the next few days. It wasn't until Tuesday that Harry and Aneira were better, even though that was the case, Harry took Pepper Up Potions so he could take his detentions and his classes.

_31st of January:_

Over a week after Blaise leftparanoia began to set in, not only in Harry, butin the rest of the group as well; they didn't know if, like Blaise, someone would betray them too. The rest of the school was even more fearful as a result, because Blaise leaving the group made it look like he 'figured out' the 'truth' that Harry was behind the attacks and left while he could, lest he be attacked next. This made no sense in retrospect, since leaving would just make him a bigger target if Harry really was behind it all, but the students didn't want facts, they wanted things to gossip over. Back with the Outcasts, no one knew how to fix it, but they all wanted to; not even Luna's cheerful and insanely insightful moments were enough to break the tension when they were together.

Without Melody around Harry found his darker urges building, not just the sexual ones, but the desire to hurt people just to see what it was like; the feelings it would evoke, how every strike or spell would damage his victim, that sort of thing. There was also another attack, this time a third year Muggleborn from Gryffindor, Duncan Inglebee. Duncan had called Harry out in front of a bunch of other Gryffindors just a few days before his petrification, to which Harry responded in kind, a conflict that was broken up before it could come to physical blows by Flitwick, but it still shed a bad light on Harry. The relationship between Harry and his old house was bad enough, but this latest attack made things even worse.

Harry was taking a walk on the Sunday morning to try and keep calm. With no release, he was fighting daily with himself to keep control, and restrain himself from lashing out. With how things were at the moment it didn't bode well for his self control. He'd just turned a corner on the fourth floor when he was stopped by two fifth year Gryffindors. They had their wands pointed at him, and one of them, a male with brown hair, snarled, "Potter, you're going to pay for the attack on Inglebee."

"You're a disgrace to not only the name of Gryffindor, but also your family." The other, a black girl with dark brown hair, sneered. "The Potters have always been a light sided family; they would be ashamed of what you've become."

"This is for Inglebee!" The boy growled, his wand twirling before a spell jumped from the tip. Harry deftly avoided the spell, barely stumbling out of the way of the additional spell from the girl before he got a better footing. The two were fairly slow at casting, which gave Harry plenty of time to recover though.

Just as he was about to counter attack, wand raised, tip glowing, McGonagall walked around the corner. She hastily cast a shield, which shattered violently under Harry's spell, but it did its job. Considering the shards of broken magical shield had whizzed past them, barely missing them, the panic in the fifth year's voice wasn't entirely faked as he cried, "Professor, help us! Potter attacked us!"

Harry didn't expect the Professor to throw a binding spell at him without any sort of warning, so was hit full force with it. He could do nothing but stare up at her in mild shock as she walked over and demanded, "What is going on here?"

"Those two fifth years attacked me because they think I attacked Inglebee." Harry explained, his teeth clenched as he wiggled his arms as much as he could, his shoulders already aching from the awkward angle his arms were being held in.

Before his explanation even had time to sink in the younger girl exclaimed, fake tears in her eyes, "That's a lie Professor, he suddenly attacked us for no reason!"

"It's true Professor, we didn't even have time to defend ourselves!" Her fellow Gryffindor supported.

"Another week of detention, Potter." McGonagall declared. "I'm ashamed at your actions, I thought better of you."

"Professor-" Harry tried to say, but McGonagall wasn't listening, "No buts Potter." She said, shaking her head before she undid the binds. She turned to the fifth years, "Do either of you need to visit the Hospital Wing?"

"No Professor." The two smug liars said.

"Potter, you'll have your weeks detention with Professor Snape at eight, don't be late." McGonagall stated, looking disappointed at Harry.

"The hell I am!" Harry snapped.

McGonagall gasped at the sudden profanity, "Mr. Potter!"

He wasn't having any of it though, "What reason did I give for what happened here, what was my side of the story."

The flash of confusion was enough to make Harry even more annoyed. "You can't even remember! Your job is supposed to be to investigate what happened impartially, but instead you blow me off and punish me the second one of your House puts on the crocodile tears. If you can't act like a professor, then don't expect me to act like a student." Without another word he turned on his heel and walked away.

Harry didn't know why she didn't stop him, but the next day when he came down for breakfast the Gryffindor's hourglass wasn't even an hourglass, it was a pile of rotten wood and shattered glass. He knew the hourglasses got beat up looking if the house ever dropped below zero points, but he didn't even want to think of how far in the red the Gryffindor's were. It was immensely satisfying to see the looks of horror on the two fifth year's faces when they saw the hourglass as well.

_**o0OoO0o**_

After this incident Harry realized one thing; he couldn't trust anyone, not even the Professors. Even McGonagall, who he thought was the one person he who could count on to at least hear him out amongst the staff, and yet that didn't seem to be the case. All the people that treated him badly would get away with it as long as Harry did nothing to defend himself but do what he, as a student, was supposed to do; that is, go to the Professors about it.

_4th of February:_

A few days after he refused his detention Harry was surprised at the lack of punishment. The poor Gryffindor hourglass was basically dust these days, but he personally wasn't being punished, and the point loss wasn't even to his face.

This all seemed to change when he got a note to meet in Dumbledore's Office. That's where he was now, his eyes taking in the strange devices making a plethora of sounds that blended together into something that was neither annoying nor soothing. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames, making him feel slightly claustrophobic. The Sorting Hat rested upon a hook behind Dumbledore's desk.

Harry just smirked when he saw the Hat, remembering how he'd threatened it to put him in Gryffindor. He regretted that now, at least to a degree; at least in Slytherin he would have people by his side from the beginning. Then again, that would have only been because of fear, or because they were all suck-ups, so maybe Gryffindor wasn't so bad after all if it lead him to where he was now.

Just as he finished looking around Dumbledore entered the room, looking very sombre.

"Harry, good of you to come." Dumbledore said with a genial smile, "It has came to my attention that you haven't been attending your detentions with Professor Snape. May I ask why this is?"

"I haven't been going to Snape's -" Harry began, only to be cut off.

"Professor Snape, Harry, he is a Professor and should be given the respect he deserves." The Headmaster instructed.

Harry scoffed, "Any respect Snape had from me was lost the second he decided it was okay to transfer his petty grudge on a man I don't even remember and has been dead for over a decade, onto me, an innocent eleven year old boy. I'll respect him when he stops being a child."

Dumbledore sighed, but made no move to press the matter, waiting for Harry's response to his original question.

"As for my detentions, I haven't gone to them because they were unfairly given." He replied shortly.

"What do you mean?" The older man inquired.

Harry shrugged, "Exactly that. I was given the detentions for attacking two fifth years, only I didn't attack them, it was the opposite. When McGonagall showed up and intervened she ended up only seeing my counter spell, a Banishing spell, nothing outright dangerous. So when the fifth years claimed I attacked them, the girl half of the pair crying to get even my sympathy, McGonagall just threw a week's worth of detentions at me without investigating at all."

"I see…" Dumbledore said slowly. "I will have a word with Minerva about this. In the mean time, is there anything you wish to talk about?"

Before Harry could reply a fireball suddenly burst to life on the perch as Fawkes Burst back into the office. Harry grimaced, instantly feeling uncomfortable in the presence of the creature's aura, something Albus noticed.

"I'm surprised, most are comforted by Fawkes' song." The Headmaster announced.

Harry saw what he was really saying and decided to cut that off before things grew out of hand too early. "Oh I'm fully aware of the specifics of Phoenix song and it's affect on people, but I really don't think what people believe is correct."

Dumbledore looked interested, making the appropriate "Oh?" sound for Harry to continue.

"Well everyone seems to belief that the good are comforted and the evil feel pain, nobody seems to realize that this system would need some kind of working mechanics behind it, so the way I see it is how you respond to the Aura depends on what you yourself believe you are. I feel rather uncomfortable because it's hard to feel like a good and giving person when most of your peers fear and hate you." Harry replied bluntly. "So I'm pretty neutral as far as this whole 'Light and Dark' philosophy goes. Apparently Fawkes doesn't like fence sitter in matters of morality."

That brought an actual chuckle from Dumbledore. "A very interesting theory my boy, I might just bring that up with a few colleagues of mine. Well, I'm satisfied this matter is dealt with, at least for now, but please endeavour to attend the detention that are fairly given." The older man said firmly, peering over his half moon spectacles at him.

Harry was satisfied with the exchange, so he nodded and replied, "Oh I plan to, I just felt I needed to draw the line somewhere. Good day, Headmaster."

Dumbledore nodded back, "Understandable, my boy, have a pleasant evening."

_**o0OoO0o**_

Once Harry left his Office, Albus looked at Fawkes. "I'm worried, old friend." Albus admitted honestly, "He's so much like Tom. He has a close knit circle of friends that would do anything for him, and he's already being pushed towards the dark path by his peers. I can't have him become another Dark Lord. Nor can I allow him to become as powerful as Tom; he needs to die by Tom's hand so that I can kill Tom myself, or at the very least ensure they take each other out."

As Dumbledore sat there he sighed morosely at his recent failure. So far everything he'd done to manipulate the situation had failed or backfired. He thought that if he let people treat Potter like an outcast he would be able to regain control that way. But no, instead his friends joined Harry and their bonds of friendship grew even stronger. Heart warming, in any other situation, but not what he was going for. He needed Tom and Harry to die so that he could look like he was the true Leader of the Light, so that he could control the world the way he wanted it.

An idea began forming. He let it simmer for a good half an hour before he felt safe even voicing it. "Yes that could do it. Alas, I must wait until next year, I need to deal with what's happening here first. Why couldn't Lord Malfoy have waited a while longer to put his machinations into play?" He sighed; the youth of today were so impatient. "No matter, he and his petulant child will get what's coming to them sooner or later…" And with that Albus left his Office to send a letter to get the items he would need for the next year if his plan were to work.

As he left, he didn't see Fawkes look at him with a disappointed stare. Many thought that she - why everyone though she was a he, she would never know - was that she was bound to the Headmaster, once to Hogwarts before Albus came along. He had used a Dark Ritual to bound her to him, as he wanted to make it so that he looked like the Leader of the Light so many people thought he was, when in fact he wasn't.

Over the last few years, Albus's actions had gotten so bad that even being in the same room as him caused her much pain. And she was willing to do anything to change this… in fact there were a few ways this could happen. The simplest way was, if obscure, a ritual to change her alignment from Light to more of a Neutral, she would even be happy if she was changed to Dark if it could stop the pain she was feeling right now. But sadly no-one knew about what she was going through, and so no way to escape. So stay she did, in pain and trapped, slowly losing her mind and waiting for a hero like some kind of human damsel in distress.

_**o0OoO0o**_

At least now he knew he could trust the Outcasts again, and it was all thanks to the Weasley Twins - in the end the solution was really quite simple and they felt foolish for not thinking of it sooner; a Magical Oath not to betray each other knowingly or willingly. It was during the time Harry was _supposed_ to be attending a detention with Snape when he came across a mention of an Unbreakable Vow in the book he was reading on Wizarding History. One question to Daphne for clarification, overheard by the Weasely Twins, set off a chain reaction amongst the Outcasts as they all swore the Magical Oath the two Weasleys suddenly declared right in the middle of their Common Room. They didn't use the Unbreakable Vow, as it was considered foolish and dangerous for something so simple. Oddly enough Harry didn't need to take the Oath; while their trust in each other had taken a serious hit Harry's unchanged behaviour towards his friends had earned enough trust that they all trusted him not to betray them.

Harry was overjoyed at how things had turned out. He could finally relax, knowing that none of his friends would betray each other.

With that taken care of, Harry was free to focus on other issues, like becoming stronger. He was progressing steadily, the magic from the magical parasite he was suicking on Ron was working nicely, but he didn't have any trump cards to use this magical power. The most obvious answer was the Unforgivables, and finding out how to cast them was terrifyingly easy. The Cruciatus, incantation Crucio, required the caster only feel hatred and the desire to cause pain. The Imperius, incantation Imperio, required a dominating personality and the will to exert this dominance, though it could be cast by anyone, it's were stronger for those with this prerequisite met. The Killing Curse, incantation Avada Kedavra, didn't require anything at all in the ways of emotion, you just needed to be powerful enough to cast it. All of this was barefacedly stated in a history book, of all things.

Before he found this book he developed a plan though. Harry was Lockhart's star student, and the man, while not as idiotic as Harry initially thought, was still fairly empty headed when it came to matters not relating to duelling. So Harry used his position to request a permission slip to the Restricted Section. Lockhart didn't even listen to his excuse of wanting to research how he survived the Killing Curse, and was already signing Harry's slip before he began explaining. Lockhart just mentioned that there were quite a few books on more advanced duelling techniques and tactics in the Forbidden Section and, as long as he promised to check them out, he had no problems handing over his signature.

_10th of February:_

Over week since the so called attack and Harry's finding of the books on the Unforgivables, and he was pleasantly surprised at how well the search had went. It was enough to stave off his worsening mood for just a little while as he studied diligently. On a more carnal note, hormones were in full swing and Harry found himself leering at the girls he found attractive. Thankfully he was covert enough to not be caught doing this, or thing would have gotten complicated.

His earlier thoughts on the Unforgivables proved to be accurate and pretty much all there was to know about them. Harry possessed great willpower, a good deal of magical strength, and more rage and hate than he knew what to do with, so the next step was practice.

It was fortunate that he realized this when he did, because he was taking another walk and came across the cat from hell; Mrs. Norris. Considering how late it was, the cat would have surely bolted, running back to her owner yowling all the while, had Harry not acted quickly and snapped off a quick _Petrificus Totalus,_ freezing the feline in place.

"Now, let's see if I can do this." Harry said to himself, bringing the appropriate emotions to the surface before he jabbed his wand at his target, _"Crucio!"_

A vibrant red bolt of light jumped from his wand with an audible sizzle. The spell hit it's intended target, and red lightning seemed to surge over Mrs. Norris' body. The only part of her body that could move, her eyes, twitched, her pupils widening and contracting to slits as they darted left and right. A toneless noise echoed from her unmoving throat, but because of the binding spell it was fairly quiet.

The entire experience was thrilling. Not some sort of pleasure feedback from the spell, that was just silly, but more in a sense that Harry was causing something else pain with so little effort. He would need to torture something in a more 'Muggle' way in the future to compare.

After a few minutes of this Harry decided he had enough and moved onto the next Unforgivable, so with an eager grin he said, _"Avada Kedavra!"_

He grinned wider as he saw the Killing Curse both did what it was supposed to and even cancelled the binding spell, causing Mrs. Norris to flop to the floor, her eyes glassy. After a few seconds Harry only felt… disappointed. That was it? That was pretty lackluster, all things considered. The noticeable dip in his reserves was also annoying, but expected. He definitely wouldn't be tossing those around like candy, like Voldemort was rumoured to do whenever he personally lead raids; another fun fact he's learned in the Restricted Section. Not until he got stronger anyway…

_**o0OoO0o**_

It was a few days after before Mrs. Norris' body was found, and while everyone was glad that she was dead, many wondered what happened to her, only Filch cared that she was dead. Over the next few days, the squib became more and more violent, and eventually he assaulted a first year for tracking mud into the castle. He did so right in front of about three dozen witnesses, so Dumbledore was forced to fire him, lest he have a riot on his hands. Harry sat back and smirked evilly as he watched it all play out.

Shortly after Mrs. Norris' death, Harry was somewhat shocked that he didn't care that he killed her; he expected just a little bit of remorse for his first life taken, and yet his conscience was completely clear, he even still felt the thrill of her death. He liked the feeling, and the benefits of having the emotional strength to kill someone were numerous, so he began sneaking into the Forbidden Forest and killing any animals he came across, tossing in a few Crucio's to make sure he'd mastered the spell. These times he made sure to take the Overlord's Gauntlet; Mrs. Norris's death was such a waste, experience of it aside, he could have used her death to begin gathering Lifeforce. It would obviously be awhile before he would have minions, if ever, but that didn't mean he couldn't start gathering it now, he may even find a use for it in the Dark One's other projects.

Hunting in the Forbidden Forest, Harry came across many different animals, a few wolf packs that attacked him and rodents that he managed to hit before they scurried away, mostly. Harry obtained one to three white Lifeforce Orbs from these. The single most common thing he encountered though were large spiders, Acromantula, and he was surprised to find the Lifeforce, when gathered, was green. He stayed away from the unicorns though, he still had standards.

As he was doing this he idly wondered what killing a human would be like. Killing insects and animals was fun, and he did enjoy it, but he wondered if humans would be the same. Then again, he mused that a large part of his worries were that it would actually be boring using the Killing Curse. Just zap, and they're dead. That sounded pretty anticlimactic to him.

Anticlimactic or not, the only thing that stayed his hand was the knowledge that he wouldn't get away with it, or on the slim chance he did, the fragile situation at Hogwarts would snap and the school would be shut down completely. And if it didn't, he would be hunted down, something he didn't want - well not yet anyway.

As time passed Harry started on the Imperius Curse; and the similarities between the Imperius and the Mind Trick were so numerous that the Imperius was basically just a Mind Trick that was boosted by his wand. At first Harry used it on animals, seeing that they were weak minded, or rather, simply more instinctual, and thus easier to control. Once he was sure he could do it on animals, he tested the Imperius Curse very discreetly on a passing student, and he was surprised to note that as long as he wasn't seen casting it by the victim they wouldn't even know they were under it, or they would forget, he wasn't sure which.

Back on the Chamber front though, the Outcasts got together and gathered their data. They knew what the beast was, and how to deal with it, but they didn't know who was controlling it. The attacks were too organized for it to just be the whims of the Basilisk itself, somebody had to be controlling it. The question was; who?

As they were researching who was killed the last time the Chamber was opened and where to find it, he tried to use his limited skill in Legilimency on the students to see if he could find the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. It was possible the Heir was one of the other students. Unfortunately, he wasn't very skilled at the art yet and couldn't read people's minds well enough to find the information he needed. All he found was a jumbled mess of unrelated information clumped together so tightly he couldn't make heads or tails of it.

The splitting headaches from doing this didn't lend itself well to his already antsy mood. With Melody gone he was suffering from what could be likened to withdrawal. His leering continued, but his increased impatience was making the danger of growing caught grow. He was fully aware he couldn't afford to be caught leering, much less doing more, so even knowing Memory Charms, which he didn't, wouldn't have allowed him to just take whatever girl he wanted. Hogwarts gossip network would have the news spread around before he even finished if he was seen with any girl leaving an abandoned classroom or broom closet. But his lust and darkness was building up, and he needed something to take the edge off soon, otherwise he would do something someone else would regret.

The Basilisk was good for one thing though. The Outcasts figured out, or at least theorized, that the Basilisk's Gaze, since it was only seen in a reflection, became weaker, watered down. This sparked an idea to see if spells could have the same effect. A brief search through some of his books revealed a spell for restraining prisoners. It worked by throwing the victims magic into chaos, so it couldn't properly be used. it was only meant for a single person though, so when Harry cast it on the entire bench for each table in the Great Hall, the effects were heavily muted. The students, instead of not being able to harness magic at all, found themselves having difficulty with their spellwork. Ron was labeled an almost Squib as this, in conjunction with the magical parasite attacking him twice a week, worked together to make him almost completely useless.

The spell would last for about 24 hours, but would be renewed when the students sat on the benches, so it was effectively constant until the end of the year when everyone left.

Harry applied the counter spell to Galleon coins he handed out to the Outcasts. Aside from Hermione raising a token fuss, they all liked the idea and took great enjoyment in watching their fellow students fail in class.

It has almost been two weeks since the attack on Duncan Inglebee, and most of the students were giving dark looks and were attacking him or faming him for something and getting into detentions - which he didn't attend. Another visit to the Headmaster office to explain the situation and the on-the-spot detentions from the Professors stopped, but not the 'I'm disappointed in you' speeches they seemed to give every time for whatever reason.

_20th of February:_

Learning the Unforgivables, the Crucio in particular, required the castor to bring their rage to the surface, but it wasn't really vented through the spell itself, so as a result Harry himself found his mood to be growing darker. He did an admirable job at hiding it from the Outcasts, made easier by the improved mood the group now had now that they knew they could trust each other, but there were a number of older students who thought they could attack Harry when he was alone wind up in the Hospital Wing with broken bones, not willing to say what had happened to them. Not even first years were safe if they raised a wand against him. Threats were taken care of, no matter what shape they were.

Lucy was ecstatic, and put even more effort into practising with Harry using Lily's body, which only spurred Harry on to injure his would-be ambushers even more as they seemed to just refuse to learn that he was quite capable of defending himself.

What didn't help his mood was that just a few days ago there was another attack, this time it was a fifth year Ravenclaw, Tamsin Applore. She was one of those who bullied Luna, and was a slow learner for a Ravenclaw, just a few weeks ago he had to stop her from stealing something from Luna and had to resort to outright threats.

So once again the school was giving him dark looks and blaming him, they even asked the Professors to expel him for these attacks. This was unlimitedly futile, there were several rules in place about expulsion, one of which being concrete proof was needed of wrongdoing. The evidence showed the truth, Harry was just an innocent and harassed student trying to refrain from killing people; though that last detail wasn't exactly common knowledge, or known at all.

He found himself sitting in the Outcast Tower doing his homework, surrounded by every currently loyal Outcast sans two, Padma and Parvati, who entered the Tower looking worried. "What's wrong girls, why do you look so worried?" Harry wondered.

"Harry, I've been hearing rumours lately about you. I know you've had a lot about you since… well since you started school actually," Parvati admitted, "but the latest batch are actually true, unfortunately."

"Which ones? All I've managed to overhear were the standard ones that say I'm attacking people." Harry inquired.

"Unless these attacks are sorted out soon, one of three things are going to happen." Padma began, taking over for her sister. "One, the school will be closed down. Two, Dumbledore will be replaced. And lastly - and this was sadly the most likely of them, considering how lazy I know this country's government is - the Minister for Magic is going to send you to Azkaban."

"What!?" Harry yelled in shock, "How can he do that?"

"Very easily," Parvati revealed grimly. "Fudge is a fool, and the rumour is that he wants to be 'seen doing something'. By throwing you into Azkaban he would be seen as fixing the problem, despite having no evidence. Even worse, because so many students think you're behind all this, the public would probably praise him for his 'willingness to act', or some other drivel."

"…" Harry was silent, his mind spinning as he tried to find a way out of this. The only solution was more time, something he didn't have, apparently. "Thank you for telling me this. We'll just have to work harder to find out about the Chamber."

His declaration was met with determined nods, and despite their worry they would put their all into researching this.

_**o0OoO0o**_

Even so, while the rest of the school, the aggressive few aside, thought he was some sort of terror that stalked the halls looking for victims, the Outcasts were worried about their friend. The way they saw it ever since Melody was attacked he'd been slowly becoming angrier and darker, and they wondered if the two of them had a thing. It seemed to make sense, as they did spend a large amount of time together, and it would explain Harry's change in mood.

Hermione was asked if she knew if they were together, but she honestly didn't know. She _suspected _they were, considering the evidence, but she wasn't sure but it was possible. Either way, the Outcasts just hoped Melody would recover soon. Sooner or later, the way things were going, Harry was going to snap and start cursing people in the middle of the Great Hall the next time the whispering got too bad.

What they didn't know was that Luna had something planned to stop Harry before he got too far out of hand.

_28th of February:_

It has been over a month since Melody was attacked found Harry once again walking the corridors, trying to ease his bottled emotions. Mostly lust, though in the state he was in he wouldn't hesitate to throw a few crippling curses and jinxes at anybody that looked like they were about to attack him. He was past the point where he could focus, his almost every waking thought was a fantasy of some kind of how much he'd love to force some random girl he came across into an empty room and fuck their brains out, forcing them to do whatever he pleased for his own pleasure. It was getting to the point that he didn't care if he was caught or not. He was still in indecisive about just grabbing the first girl he saw, but it would largely depend on who he saw first.

Harry was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize until it was too late that someone was following him. He only noticed when they sped past him, grabbing his wrist and dragging him into the nearest doorway, the door slamming shut behind him.

_**TO BE CONTINUED!**_

_**Authors Note:**_Here ends another chapter of Vulcan, I would like to thank you for reading and I hope that you keep on reading and enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing this. If you did or did not, I hope that you'll spare a few more minutes and review, as I would like to hear what you think of the story so far and any ideas you might have.

So you know, I'm going to try and give each of the Outcast a role so they would be more useful to Harry, but I need you help as to what they can do. Here is what I got so far:

Harry Potter: Dark Lord/Overlord

Luna and Melody: Beast Master!  
Weasley Twins: Necromancers!  
Hermione: Researcher!


	11. Chapter 11 - Second Year: Part 3!

'_Thoughts!'_

_§ 'Parseltongue!' §_

_**Warning:**_ Underage Lemon, Male Dom, Female Sub.

_**Chapter 11**_

_28th of February:_

Unsure of who just pulled him into this classroom he quickly pulled out his wand and aimed at the potential enemy, only to lower it as he saw the oddly serious face of Luna looking back at him.

"Luna, what's wrong?" Harry asked worriedly, his own issues put to the side as his normally cheerful friend displayed some very… unluna-ish behaviour.

"_You're_ what's wrong Harry." Luna replied. "You're my friend, but you've been getting worse, and it started shortly after Melody was attacked."

"I don't know what you're talking about Luna." Harry denied uneasily, "I am upset about Melody, and I care for her, maybe love her. But that's all, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Harry, I was sorted into Ravenclaw for a reason, please don't treat me like a fool." Luna countered, a bit hurt Harry would tell her a half-truth like that. Then again, it was understandable if her suspicions were true; he wouldn't want people to know what he really was like. "I know you don't love Melody, at least in the sense of what most people would consider love, because you don't know what that definition of love feels like. You know that Melody is my friend, in fact she's my best friend, and we've talked about things she probably hasn't told anybody else." She saw a flash of worry in Harry's features and knew she was on the right track, "Harry, you should know that sometimes a girl just needs someone to talk to, and she came to me because she knew I could be trusted, and more importantly I wouldn't judge or say anything. I know she has very detailed fantasies about being dominated, and I know those with troubled childhoods sometimes have a need to be in control." She explained, pacing back and forth. Harry blinked as the blond demonstrating exactly why she was a Ravenclaw. "I think, that Melody came onto you, or maybe it was mutual, but you've grown so used to having her around that suddenly being without her has left you completely unprepared."

She stopped pacing and looked him in the eye. "I already figured out you're a 'dark wizard', as useless as that title is in this country. I'll stay by your side, not because of the Oaths we agreed to, but because I want to. Please allow me to take Melody's place. I've never thought about sexual things like Melody does, and my body isn't as developed as Melody's, but I will do my best."

Harry blinked slowly, scarcely able to believe his luck and how loyal Luna seemed to be. "You're truly a credit to your House, Luna, you seem to have figured everything out. Knowing this though, you also know exactly what you're offering, don't you." Harry stated, rather than asked. Luna nodded.

Harry walked forward until there were only a few inches between them, barely able to contain himself, but kept control. He reached forward, sliding his hand against her cheek, threading his fingers through her silky blond hair before lightly gripping the back of her neck. "You know that you'll be mine," Luna nodded, "To do with what I please, whenever, wherever." She nodded again, shivering slightly at the look forming in his eyes. "We can stop now, we can pretend this never happened. Are you really willing to give your freedom and give it to me to use as I like."

Luna took slightly longer this time, but this time she accompanied her firm nod with a submissive sounding, "I am, Master." Assuming it was what Harry wanted to hear.

He still looked slightly skeptical, but lust quickly overrode it. He let his hand drop and backed away a few steps, leaning back against a desk behind him. "Only time will tell. Strip, I think you're selling your body short." Harry told her, knowing Luna didn't have the best self-esteem for reasons she hadn't, to his knowledge at least, shared with anyone.

Luna's opinion of her body wasn't completely unfounded, really. Puberty hadn't done much for her yet; her breasts had started budding, but were an awkward shape, more points than the round orbs breasts were likened to, her nipples were a rosy pink colour helping to emphasise her pale skin. Her hips hadn't started widening, so she was what most would describe as a twig. She didn't have any pubic hair, though that could simple be because she spelled it that way rather than because it hadn't started growing yet. Her limbs and overall body shape was quite skinny, fairy-like, almost, which could also be seen as a turn off.

_**Lemon Begins: Skip if you're underage or not into this kind of thing!**_

Stepping closer to her, Harry decided he didn't mind any of this, nor did it mean Luna was unattractive in general, it just meant she had some growing to do. Growing that Harry was going to have the privilege of mapping out. Luna blushed as Harry appraised her nudity, only her parents had ever seen her in such a state and that was several years ago now. The tingling of goose-bumps over her cool skin excited her and another kind of tingling began between her legs, something she had only felt before during her midnight conversations with Melody. Only this time the tingling wasn't just a mild itch that could be ignored, Luna realised that the only person who could help stem her sudden need was only a hair's breadth away.

He started to touch Luna's body, just stroking her hair at first, feeling the soft strands between his fingers before He gently but firmly closed his hand into a fist, grabbing her hair in the process eliciting no response from her. He pulled her forward, his head dipping down to kiss at her neck. As his left hand remained tangled in her hair his right ventured further down. Her breasts felt silky smooth to the touch, though less sensitive than Melody's judging by the more toned down moaning.

"Is my body to your satisfaction master?" Luna asked as he pinched her left nipple gently and then moved onto the right. "I know my breasts aren't as large as Melody's." She said with a small blush, recalling how the other girl looked with only her bra on, as was typical of their night-time talks.

"You shouldn't feel embarrassed Luna, you may not have developed fully yet but I am sure you'll grow into someone men would beg to see." Harry replied, inwardly smirking with the knowledge that she was his in her entirety and he wouldn't be allowing anyone to see what was his and his alone. As he continued to explore her breasts Harry idly wondered if there was a way to temporarily - or permanently, though that could be detrimental considering she was still growing - grow them larger, the size they were now wouldn't be of much use aside from pleasuring her during foreplay, but there were other places he could get his satisfaction which would more than do for now. If there wasn't a way to enhance her breasts, or at least he couldn't find a spell or potion, he accepted that he would just need to be patient.

That decided, his hand ventured further down, caressing and feeling her abdomen and belly button, his fingers momentarily stopping to rub at her pubis mons to see if he could feel any tiny hairs. He found none, and finally slid his finger against her slit, instantly getting a reaction from Luna. He smirked against her neck; it seemed where Melody was more sensitive about her breasts, Luna took more pleasure in having her pussy played with. He examined her with his fingers, and like Melody Luna's pussy was exceptionally smooth, possessing no lips, but was instead more of a slit. Her clit was extended, which his middle finger sought out and began rubbing in a circular pattern, causing the blond's breath to hitch. She exhaled with a shudder as his finger slipped further between her legs, teasing into her to just the first knuckle as his palm took over on her clit.

He felt a sense of relief settle on his shoulders as his finger penetrated deeper, the familiar sensation of a girl's inner walls squeezing tightly on his fingers was soothing, something he'd missed greatly. As he added another finger, increasing the pace, he drank in the feeling of Luna's hot breath against his hair as she panted, her body beginning to lean on him, and her hands wrapping around him to hold on tightly. The second he added a third finger, stretching her little slit even wider, he felt the blond stiffen against him, a cute little grunt escaping her as she began shaking. Harry's fingers sped up, three fingers slipping in and out of her, all slick with her arousal, doing wonders to extend and heighten her orgasm. He only stopped when she went slack against him, now panting for a different reason.

"That... That was incredible master..." Luna gasped**.** She knew orgasms were supposed to be intense but she had guessed that Melody had exaggerated the feelings that Harry gave her.

"I aim to please my dear." Harry replied as his hand moved back up to her head and he started stroking her hair, drying off her fluids in the process. Luna leaned into his touch and relaxed further into his embrace, Harry noted her reaction to his treatment and filed it away for later consideration.

Lucy had explained to Harry that different girls had different kinks. For instance, both she and Melody prefered rough sex, them taking pleasure in Harry's pleasure, getting off by being used. Lucy had been very specific in mentioning though, that the way he'd fucked her when she was using Lily's body was definitely the go-to way to have sex; dominating, but more than willing to make sure all parties involved were well pleased. If he did this his technique would be more appealing to a wider selection of girls, and they would be eager to return the favour as well. Kinkier sex could come later with exploration, but that first time was important for many reasons.

And Harry had every intention of doing just that with Luna… eventually. He would introduce her to the wonders of cunnilingus later, but right now he was harder than he'd ever been in his life. He quickly joined his newest… slave? That seemed harsh, he cared about her, and slave implied she was an unfeeling item. Concubine? _'Yeah, I like that better.'_ He decided.

Terminology aside, he quickly stripped, drawing a gasp from the thin blond as she saw his erection for the first time. He opened his mouth to give her an order, but was pleasantly surprised when she knelt down in front of him, her normally large eyes had widened at the sight when her face came closer. she had no real way to measure him but his size was clearly impressive, Luna briefly wondered if it would fit inside her small body, but she push those thoughts aside in favour of exploring his organ. Harry couldn't bring himself to be annoyed her her technique, despite his own needs, this was her first time, and it was foolish to think the inquisitive girl wouldn't approach this new activity in any way but curiously.

Luna began by examining him, before hesitantly grasping him, jumping at what he could only assume was the heat of his shaft. She then began rubbing things with her fingers, mostly the side of her thumb; tracing veins and the crown of the head, before finally she began caressing him, pumping her hand slowly up and down the shaft, more to get a feel for how his foreskin moved, than to pleasure him. "Is this ok Master?" Luna said calmly, as if she weren't handling a penis for the first time. Once again harry was surprised by the sudden shifts in personality the girl could make. Harry didn't reply, lost in the pleasure of having his member handled again. Luna leaned forward and buried her nose in his pubes, breathing deeply several times as if to memorise his scent.

She then started over on his balls, but as amusing and wonderful as it was, Harry finally hit his limit. "Luna!" He barked.

The blond below him jumped, blinking her way out of her trance as she looked up at him with her wide silver eyes. Without breaking eye contact she pulled her head back up, only to suddenly engulf the head of his cock, her tongue rubbing against the sensitive glands on the underside of his crown and her hands began pumping. The pace of her mouth and hands didn't match, her mouth working with almost lazy slowness, most likely more examination, considering her earlier approach, but her hands were moving so fast they were making a slapping sound as they hit his pelvis. None of this obviously mattered, and Harry was too lost in the flood of pleasure after so long without to really even notice, but it was interesting to note.

"Yesss…" He hissed, his right hand jumping up to rest atop her head before started to pump her head onto his cock, "I've missed this so much."

Luna's skills might have been completely experimental, but she was doing quite well on her own. Harry was impatient though, and he took hold her hair again and begun to fuck her mouth hard and fast; it didn't take long before he was ready to blow, "Luna I'm going to cum, I want you to swallow as much as you can." He ordered. Luna was only able to barely nod her head before the flood started.

Harry was taken completely off guard by the strength of his climax; it felt like his balls were completely draining themselves as he groaned deeply and loudly. Luna was even more unprepared, a complete virgin that she already was, so despite his orders a fair amount of his seed poured out of her mouth.

Luna pulled back once the flow eventually petered out, licking her lips and looking up at him in askance, "How did I do Master?"

"For your first time you did very well, my little moon." Harry assessed as he stroked her hair, smiling as she seemed to purr at her new nickname. "But don't think you won't be working on it. You still have a ways to go, but we'll work on it later. For now…" Harry said with a smirk and he gestured for her to stand up, "I've got other things planned for you." He finished before he pulled her face into his and roughly began to kiss her. Luna gasped for a moment in surprise, and Harry took that moment to force his tongue into her mouth. She found her sex heating up even more, and instinctively ground it against his leg, trailing some of her fluids against it.

"I think someone is ready for the last step..." Harry smirked, breaking off from the kiss. He pushed her against a wall, and slid his erect member along the entrance of her tingling quim, teasing her.

"M-Master... p-please...!" Luna whined. Harry smirked, and lined his cock up with her slit, the crown dwarfing it. Harry knew it was going to be a tight fit, but didn't really care. He began pushing, the head stretching it. Luna started breathing harder, trying to deal with the pain. Harry stopped and waited for it to go away, but Luna had other ideas and forced her body to roughly impale herself in one go. Luna nearly screamed in pain at the sudden stretching and breaking of her hymen.

"F-Fuck! Luna!" Harry shouted. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I c-couldn't wait... you were taking too long." She said between sniffles. Harry looked at where they were meeting and saw a little bit of blood. His staring was brought to a complete and utter halt when the Fae looking girl started rocking her hips. All Harry was then reminded how tight this tiny girl was, and how hot she was inside as well. Taking the hint, he started pulling out, listening to her pained moan. When he was almost completely out, he slammed himself back in, drawing a guttural cry of "MASTER!" from her mouth.

Gradually, he built up his pace, a slapping noise echoing in the empty room, Luna's ecstasy filled cries being music to the young Elemental's ears. Feeling the pressure build up in his loins, he stopped, with Luna letting out a disappointed whimper. Smirking, he lifted her up and moved her over to the desk before gently laying her on her back, and with nary a word, plunged back into her, the cacophony of yeses being uttered fuelling his movements and lust. He missed the act so much, he wanted it to last as long as he could.

He gazed down at his little moon's writhing body, sweat covering her delicate body in a sheen, silvery blue eyes almost aglow in the moonlight streaming in the room, her chest heaving with her breathes and erect nipples begging for attention. Harry felt her tight walls clamp down once again, causing him to groan.

"Luna, I'm going to..." He groaned, feeling the pressure, unable to stave it off anymore.

"Do it, Master! Make me yours!" She mewled back, leaning up for an embrace. With a roar, Harry unleashed his seed deep into the tiny girl, again feeling her walls crushing his member. As her incredibly tight passage milked him of his fluid Harry rejoiced in finally planting his seed again and the warm feeling of pride at having acquired another girl who was now his. An Overlord he might not yet be but he was already on his way to acquiring his Mistresses. About a minute later and the final contents of his balls had been pulled out by Luna's grasping muscles and pushed into her womb. Thankfully Luna had remembered to take precautions before she gave herself to Harry and allowed the feeling of fullness to subside as her Master's member slowly deflated and then popped out leaving a small trickle of cum.

Harry stood up and looked the girl up and down as she laid against the desk panting for breath, her stomach bulging slightly with the overly large amount of seed Harry had pumped into her. It was more than he had anticipated he would produce, especially after having cum into her mouth before. This would have to be looked into later. Harry pulled her onto his lap as he sat in the teacher's chair. The girl had nearly passed out from her first sexual experience. Her body may not have been fully developed yet but the feeling of her pussy around his dick more than made up for it. Harry allowed himself to relax again as all his pent up frustration had left him and he absentmindedly stroked the small girl's hair as she roused herself.

_**Lemon Ends: Read from here if you skipped the Lemon!**_

"That was great." Luna gasped as she fell back to lay on the smooth surface of the desk after several minutes of explanation while she recovered. During that time, Harry had told Luna what to expect now she was his.

"You were great too Luna. Did you enjoy all of it?" Harry asked, wanting to get a feel for how sex with her would go in the future.

The blond nodded happily, "I did, I want to try everything, feel everything." She said, her voice growing slightly dreamy. Harry didn't know what she was thinking but if he did he would have been shocked at the things she eventually intended for him to do to her, and her intentions to research ways to enhance the experience further.

"I'm glad you're enthusiastic, because I plan on introducing you to everything I can." He promised. "As soon as you're ready anyway. It's not very fun if you're exhausted."

"I'm ready now," Luna replied firmly, spreading her legs. "Please Master, fuck me."

Pleasantly surprised she still had enough energy to keep going, Harry didn't hesitate to place himself at her entrance again. Luna only lasted two more rounds, something they would definitely be working on, but Harry did end up demonstrating his tongue work for her which, just as Lucy had suggested, drove Luna to try and please him even more because of how good it felt. They eventually had to stop and head back to the Outcast Tower, Luna almost hanging off Harry as they made the journey.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_7th of March:_

A week later Harry found himself much calmer. He was shocked at how well Luna was adjusting to her new role, he thought there would be at least some sort of trouble or resistance, but there wasn't any. Luna's kink, or at least the first to appear, was being treated like a pet. In a way it was similar to Lucy and Melody, although Lucy just liked being used for his relief, it came with its own actions Luna enjoyed Harry doing to her, or her to him. Frankly, Harry was beginning to think he was blessed by some… well probably not higher power, considering how he was shaping up. Either way, he found himself luckily to be surrounded by such kinky little bitches; it certainly made life interesting.

It wasn't long before his friends saw the change in him as his personality returned to normal. Harry apologized for his distant behaviour, citing his worry over Melody, explaining that he'd come to realize that he did care a lot for her. When she was attacked, he didn't know how to act, completely out of his element, having never been close enough to anybody to feel grief before.

When asked what had changed, he explained it was thanks to talking to Luna. She made him realize what a prat he was being and how much he was hurting them all. After a long talk with her, he realized his mistake and wanted to make it up to them. He did outright tell them he wasn't promising anything right away, but he would make an effort to interact with them more.

It was a Sunday afternoon and the Outcasts were once again looking through history books about the school and old newspapers that their parents sent them to see if they could find out who was killed the last time the Chamber was opened. Harry was sitting on the sofa with Aneira sitting next to him on one side with Luna on the other.

Harry was giving up hope that they would ever find out about the incident; for a place where rumours ran wild and almost no secrets were kept for long, it was very hard to find out who was killed. The Chamber itself was already so shrouded in mystery it was thought to be a myth, finding its location was going to be something they did themselves. The killing though, that was a surprise. They couldn't find anything, you'd think a murder at a school as famous at Hogwarts would be more of a big deal, but they had no luck whatsoever.

Harry was about to throw in the towel for the day and hope nothing else went wrong, but just before he could open in mouth Su, her voice raised high enough to make everyone in the room jump as she broke the silence and exclaimed, "Found it!"

Harry took the offered newspaper, yellowed with age, and placed it on the table before he began reading aloud. "Yesterday, the _Daily Prophet_ was made aware of the death of Myrtle Henderson, a fourth year Ravenclaw. What happened is still a mystery, but it's been said that the perpetrator of this heinous crime has been dealt with."

"Well, at least we know who was killed." Susan said hopefully, "Maybe if we can find her family we can learn more. I doubt we'll be so lucky, but maybe we'll learn where the Chamber is!"

"Myrtle… Myrtle…" Harry heard Parvati kept whispering, "No, it couldn't be _that_ Myrtle, could it?"

"What are you talking about Parvati?" Harry asked, "Who couldn't be that Myrtle?"

Parvati looked at Harry and swallowed, it was something she'd overheard some time ago but she didn't think about it until now. Harry had been understandably tense as of late, so she was hesitant to reveal information she'd known about for a while now, knowing how he would react. With a sigh, she explained, "Moaning Myrtle, I'm thinking this Myrtle Henderson could be Moaning Myrtle the ghost. She died about fifty years ago. She told me this a while back, but I didn't think it was import-"

As she suspected would happen, Harry's first reaction was to bolt upright and shout, "WHAT!?" Aneira hissed at him for disrupting her nap, but was ignored as he demanded, "You knew this and you didn't say anything?!"

Luna put his hand on his shoulder and pulled him gently back onto the couch, "Harry, It's okay, we still have plenty of time."

Harry let himself be pulled before sighing, "Thanks Luna, I think you and I need to talk again later about my anger problems, it seems I still haven't got it under control." Luna caught onto his real meaning and nodded, she couldn't wait for their _talk_. That set, Harry calmed his highly annoyed Familiar down with a scratch to the spot he knew she loved right behind her left ear before he turned his attention towards Parvati, sending her an apologetic look. "Sorry Parvati, with that latest Azkaban threat I really want this wrapped up. How did you come across this information?"

Parvati nodded understandingly and continued, "I heard rumours about Moaning Myrtle in our first year, and that she died about fifty years ago. No one know how she died, because she never talks about it, she just runs off whenever someone asks. As for why I haven't said anything before now, I'd honestly forgotten. It's not hot information; it would be common knowledge but it became boring long before we began attending Hogwarts."

Harry could understand now why she didn't say anything, it was understandable she didn't remember until now, so with a sigh he asked, "So this Moaning Myrtle, what should we do? Just ask her about it?"

It was Padma who answered, "I think we should be careful with her. Now that I think back I heard a few rumours about her too; she doesn't like to talk about her death to people she doesn't get along with. Apparently it's sort of an intimate topic for ghosts, unless it's something they can brag about like Nearly Headless Nick. It doesn't help that people, both living and the dead, pick on her. We'll need to gain her trust before we can ask her about her death."

"How long do you think that would take?" Harry asked anxiously. He hoped it wasn't too long, for a number of reasons.

"I don't know." Parvati answered with a sigh, "It could only take a few hours, or it could take days, or more. Ghosts are random, and Myrtle may as well be bipolar from all I've heard about her."

Frustrated but still happy they were making progress, Harry laid out the plan. "We should start sooner rather than later if we want to find out if she was the one killed. If she was, we can hopefully get her to tell us both how and where she died." The others agreed to this, and so Luna and Harry left to talk to Moaning Myrtle.

_**o0OoO0o**_

On their way to the second floor to meet Myrtle they met up with the Crimson Vixens, who were on their way back to the Outcast Tower. The Vixens expressed an interest in what Harry and Luna were doing, and decided to tag along.

As they got to the Girls Bathroom Luna said, "This is Moaning Myrtle's place. Come on, let's go talk to her." Ignoring the large OUT OF ORDER sign, she opened the door.

It was the gloomiest, most depressing bathroom Harry had ever set foot in. Under a large, cracked, and spotted mirror were a row of chipped sinks. The floor was damp and reflected the dull light given off by the stubs of a few candles, burning low in their holders despite the magic designed to keep them going indefinitely, clearly no one had entered the bathroom in many years. The wooden doors to the stalls were flaking and scratched and one of them was dangling off its hinges.

Luna put her fingers to her lips and set off toward the end stall. When she reached it she said, "Hello Myrtle, how are you?"

Harry and the Vixens went to look. Moaning Myrtle was floating above the tank of the toilet, picking absently at her nails. When she spotted Harry her head shot up and she stared at the boy.

"This is a girl's bathroom." She said, eyeing Harry suspiciously. "He's not a girl."

"I know I'm not," Harry said politely, remembering what Padma had said, "but I came here to talk to you."

"Why would you want to talk to me?" Myrtle exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes, "No one wants to talk to Moaning Myrtle, they like to throw books and things at Myrtle, because she can't _feel_ it! Ten points if you can get it through her stomach! Fifty points if it goes through her head! Well, ha, ha, ha! What a lovely game, I don't think so!" She put her hands over her face and began crying.

"We're not like that." Katie said. She empathized with the ghost girl; just because you couldn't feel something didn't mean it didn't hurt that others would do it. "We just want to talk to you, honest."

"What would you lot have to talk me about?" Myrtle asked, looking from between her fingers.

"We want to know, is your name Myrtle Henderson?" Harry asked.

"H-how do you know that name." Myrtle gasped in surprise. It had been years since she heard her full name, she didn't think anyone even knew it anymore.

"You know about the attacks going on?" Harry asked softly, to which Myrtle nodded. "Well we heard about it happening before and someone died back then. We searched some old newspapers and the library and found out it was you who died, and to put it politely as we can, I would like to ask: how did you die?" He requested carefully. "My friends and I think these attacks are connected to your death."

Myrtle looked shocked at this, her cheeks glowing a brighter blue. No one had ever asked her about her death so kindly before, and no one this handsome had ever been so nice to her in general. "A-are you sure?" She asked, almost embarrassed.

"We believe so, yes." Harry said firmly, "Will you help us?"

"Ooooh, it was dreadful!" Myrtle announce dramatically, her hands on her cheeks as her eyes shined with relish. "It happened right in here. I died in this very stall. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then-" The blush on Myrtles cheeks grew, looking directly at Harry like she was sharing an intimate secret. "I _died_."

"How?" Angelina pressed.

"Haven't the slightest." Myrtle shrugged, her embarrassment gone like the wind. "I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away…" She looked dreamily at Harry. "And then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh, she was sorry she'd ever laughed at my glasses. I think she went crazy, because she began barking like a dog after a while." The teenage ghost smirked viciously.

"I'm glad she got what was coming to her." Harry said with a proud smile, enjoying a good tale of bullies getting what was coming to them, even despite his own alignment he still hated those who would pick on those weaker or different than them, simply to make themselves feel better about their own insecurities. "Can you tell me where exactly did you see the eyes?"

"Somewhere over there, It happened very quickly though, so I can't be any more specific." Myrtle explained with a frown, wanting to help more and she pointed vaguely toward the sink in front of her toilet.

Harry walked over to the sink to check it out. It looked like an ordinary sink.

The girls joined him, even Myrtle, and examined every inch of it, inside and out, including the pipes below. Harry was the first to find something; a tiny snake scratched onto the side of one of the copper taps.

"That tap's never worked." Myrtle commented as he tried to turn it.

"Harry, try and say something in Parseltongue." Alicia said slowly

Harry thought about it, thinking about what words that he could use. He was drawing a blank, so just tried a standard, _§ 'Open!' § _At once the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. The entire sink structure began to move, sinking right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into.

"Looks like we found the entrance." Harry said unnecessarily.

"Yes, but that's probably for the Basilisk." Luna noted, examining the dimensions of the pipe, "I don't think Slytherin would slide down a dirty pipe like that and neither would the Heir."

Harry had to admit that Luna was probably right. From what Harry knew about the man Slytherin was too proud to do something so 'childish'. He tried a quick, _§ 'SSStairsss!' §_ but nothing happened. He tried a few other words in Parseltongue to find a way down the pipe, but nothing happened. With a sigh he said, "So we need to find another way in." Turning to Myrtle Harry asked, "Myrtle, have you ever seen anyone in here before?"

"No Harry I haven't." Myrtle said sweetly. The girls giggled; it seemed the ghost girl had taken a liking to Harry.

"Okay girls, let's look for another entrance. Keep an eye out for a carved snake like the sink had." Harry instructed, only to stop as a thought occurred to him, "Angelina, could you keep an eye out please. It wouldn't look good if someone found me in here."

"Alright, keep me posted." Angelina gave a smart salute and took up her post outside.

For the next few minutes the group looked around the room, looking for something that looked like a snake symbol. Before long, it was Luna who found one within one of the loo's. Seeing this, she called Harry over to see if this was what he was looking for.

"I don't know Luna, but there's one way to find out." He replied. Turning to the snake he hissed, _§ 'Open!' § _Immediately after, a section of wall started to sink out of sight, the toilet sinking into the ground so it didn't block their path. Set into the very wall itself was a set of steps leading downward. Harry immediately started to walk into the opening.

"Looks like we found the other entrance." Katie announced, stopping Harry from progressing, "Before we go in though we should get some roosters and learn some spell to defuse any traps that might be down there."

"That's a good idea." Harry admitted, "Wouldn't want to go down there and only to fall into a spike pit…" He said, using the first trap that came to mind. "Thank you for your help Myrtle. Thanks to your help we'll be finally stop these attacks."

Harry looked at the beaming ghost and had an idea. "Due to a series of incidents, long story, me and my friends have been banished from our Houses. We've formed our own, calling ourselves the Outcasts, but we don't have a House Ghost. I mean no disrespect, but I feel I can confidently say that our Common Room would be a lot better to hang around in then this bathroom. Your situation is very similar to ours, so what do you say?"

The girls could see what Harry was trying to do, he knew the reason Myrtle was like she was, was because no one really cared for her or become friends with her. If they could be her friends, they might give the poor girl the confidence to be better. As such they voiced their agreement.

"Well, if you're sure, I'd love to be your House Ghost." Myrtle said through her tears, and for the first time she could remember they were happy tears.

"Welcome to the Outcast," Harry said, followed quickly by the girl's welcomes into their House.

Closing both entrances to the Chamber Harry turned back to the ghost and announced, "Now let's show you to your new home." before the six of them headed back to the Outcast Tower to inform the others about what they found out.

That night the Outcasts welcomed Myrtle to the group, earning enough of her trust for her to talk about her death with them, blushing heavily at the interest in her demise. The Outcasts asked if they ever found her killer, the one that controlled the Basilisk. Myrtle explained that no one ever found out who or what killed her, but they used Hagrid as a scapegoat to 'be seen doing something', because Hagrid was well known for liking dangerous animals; the more dangerous the animal the better. It was rumoured that Hagrid fought with a troll once, and befriended it - it was something that the Outcasts could believe too. But during his third year, her fourth year, he brought an Acromantula that he named Aragog with him to Hogwarts, so he fit the bill enough to be the one that attacked her.

What shocked them though, was that there seemed to be no investigation to see if Hagrid really did it or not. Thinking about it, this tipped the group off more than anything that Hagrid wasn't the one who murdered Myrtle. He didn't have a mean bone in his body, something that was easily apparent from just one meeting. Clearly the Ministry hadn't changed in the last fifty years and had always been as corrupt as the Fudge administration.

That night, Harry and Luna had the _talk_ he planned for. Luna ended up spending the night as her stamina improved enough to keep going until it was too late to go back to her room. She slept the night in Harry's room that night and they were both surprised in the morning when she had crawled to the foot of the bed in her sleep to rest her head against Harry's foot.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_10th of March:_

Over the next few days Myrtle was her normal bipolar self, grating on the Outcasts' nerves. They wondered what was wrong with her, and it was Harry who guessed it correctly. He surmised that she was like the way she was because she was still dealing with puberty, and had been for the past fifty years, because she never grew older; she was stuck like that for the rest of her afterlife. Then it was Luna who got the idea for researching for a way to age a ghost a few months or more per cast, so she could finally reach adulthood. The realisation that nobody had probably ever felt the need to perform such a spell left the Outcasts disappointed but they realised that they would need to develop the spell themselves. The twins almost immediately took up to the challenge, they both liked Myrtle and doing something to make her afterlife more bearable was something they were both eager to do.

Myrtle, on one of her better days, revealed after Harry had complained once again about the lack of real Potions teacher, as Snape was an unrepentant ass who couldn't teach his way out of a wet paper bag, that she used to be a potions prodigy and was well on her way to becoming an apprentice when she died. Myrtle was more than willing to teach the Outcasts whenever they wanted for their help in making her eternal existence less filled with wild mood swings and rampant desires that couldn't be fulfilled. No one noticed the twins exchange a glance at her rant with these details in it.

Over the next few days Harry grew increasingly restless and anxious, wanting to do something about these attacks. But he had to wait for the new roosters they'd ordered to be delivered first, and it was going to be a few more days before they were scheduled to arrive. It was that Wednesday night that it grew too much and he decided to act while everyone was asleep. He decided to at least check out the Chamber to see what he could find. He didn't have to fight the Basilisk, but he could at least get a mental map, or maybe even physical map if he got it down enough to write it, of the layout of the Chamber. So, throwing his Invisible Cloak over himself and Aneira, who hitched a ride on his shoulder, they left for Myrtle's Bathroom.

Once he got to Myrtle's Bathroom and opened the second entrance to the Chamber, he removed his Invisible Cloak and summoned a small yet bright flame in the palm of his hand. Remembering his friend's advice he went down the passageway at a much slower and cautious pace.

Once he'd descended about a hundred yards the door to the bathroom closed on its own, cutting off all light except from the flame that Harry summoned for himself. Aneira was sniffing the ground for any dangers two steps below of him. As he got halfway down the passageway, Harry found footprints moving to one side or another passageway. He guessed it was whoever came down here to go to the Chamber, and had manoeuvred around the traps and so did the same, making a mental note to remember their locations and how to get past them.

They followed the footprints until they ended in a small tunnel, which went on for another thirty yards or so and ended in a larger tunnel with bones scattered everywhere. He continued on forward, around a dark bend in the tunnel. He froze when he saw the outline of something huge and curved, lying right across the tunnel. It wasn't moving. Harry cursed his luck, he thought he wouldn't have to face the Basilisk just yet, not until he got the roosters anyway.

"Maybe it's asleep." He breathed to himself, his heart beating so fast it hurt.

Very slowly, his eyes as narrow as he could make them and still see, Harry edged forward, his wand now out and held in a ready position.

The light slid over a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least.

"Blimey…" Harry said to himself as he saw the size of it, before carrying on with his journey.

The tunnel turned and turned again. Every nerve in Harry's body was tingling, ready to move should he have to. And then, at last, as he crept around yet another bend, he saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds. The stone snakes looked like they were real; their eyes looking strangely alive.

Harry was of two minds as to whether he should open the door, but seeing as he had gotten this far, he ultimately decided to keep going. So with a soft hiss, Harry said _§ 'Open!' §_

The serpents slithered apart as the wall cracked open, the two halves sliding smoothly out of sight. Harry walked inside, even more cautious and more slowly than before.

He was standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long, black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place. He kept his eyes narrowed, ready to clamp them shut at the smallest sign of movement. The hollow eye sockets of the stone snakes seemed to be following him. More than once, with a jolt of the stomach, he thought he saw one stir. Harry wondered where the Basilisk could be hiding, as Harry walked along the path. Every careful footstep echoed loudly off the shadowy walls.

Then, as he drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall.

Harry had to crane his neck to look up into the massive carved face above. He initially thought it was a monkey with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the sweeping stone robes where two enormous gray feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor, but he realized where he was and could only assume it was actually Slytherin himself. What caught more of his attention though was standing in front of the statue, it was a small, black-robed figure with flaming red hair.

"Ahh, I see that you've come, Potter." A sinister laugh, the voice both male and female, sounded from the figure before it turned around.

In front of Harry was probably the last person he ever expected to be behind this; Ginny Weasley. He only knew her by sight because the twins pointed her out, warning him that she was very interested in the Boy-Who-Lived and all that entailed. Since Hogwarts started Harry had kept his distance from her, so she wouldn't bother him. What was surprising though was that she didn't act like a fangirl at all. She didn't stalk him, she didn't bug him, she didn't even really stare at him. Well, okay, she stared at him just as much as everyone else did. It was a bit strange, but he was glad he didn't need to worry about her. Until now at least.

"Ginny, you're the one behind the attacks?" Harry asked, too surprised for his anger to truly settle in yet, but Aneira was growing at the young girl, she could spell something wrong with the girl. "You're the one that attacked Melody?"

"In a way, she was." Ginny answered vaguely, her voice still a blend of male and female.

If that wasn't a big enough indicator something was off about the situation Ginny's blood red eyes certainly were. "Who are you?" Harry asked 'Ginny,' "You're not Ginny."

"Oh but I am…" 'Ginny' said, giving him a vicious smile, "Oh very well, the truth is that I'm the daughter of the Blood Traitor, but I'm also Tom Riddle…" he said the name with a sneer.

That explained Ginny's altered voice, but not how it was possible, "How is that possible?"

"Thanks to my diary." Ginny/Tom replied, holding up the blank black book clasped in her hands proudly.

"What are you? A Ghost or something?" Harry pressed.

"A memory," She quietly replied. "Preserved in my diary for fifty years."

"So you're possessing her then." Harry surmised. He was impressed at that kind of magic, it certainly had its appeal, though he didn't think he wanted to carry an aspect of himself around, creating permanent doubles of yourself always spelled trouble, what if they started fighting each other? "So which one of you was behind the attacks then? Did you possess her early, or does Ginny Weasley have her own little dark secret?"

"Oh nothing that exciting." Riddle answered pleasantly. "And quite a long story. I suppose the real reason I'm able to control Ginny Weasley like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger."

"Well you are a diary." Harry shrugged, it seemed obvious really.

"Quite," Riddle smirked. "My form was chosen for a purpose, one that worked perfectly. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes - how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with second-hand robes and books. But-" Riddle's eyes glinted and his smirk grew, "the most interesting detail is none other than Harry Potter, and how she didn't think the famous, handsome, and smart boy a year above her would ever like her. She agonized over how close you were with your two '_Muggleborn_' friends," Tom spat out the term, "and how one of them seemed to be more than a friend to you. She was absolutely terrified you would be snatched up before she worked up the courage to make her move."

Tom looked disgusted as he spoke, "It's very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl, but I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply adored me. _No one's ever understood me like you, Tom… I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in… It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket…_"

Riddle laughed, a high, cold laugh that didn't sound right coming from a eleven year old girl's mouth. Most would be intimidated, Harry just cringed at how utterly ridiculous it sounded. He sounded like a five year old, or Dudley.

"We have something in common, you and I, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted. I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my own secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her…"

"And so you were able to take control of her, likely only temporarily at first, just long enough to start attacking people." Harry guessed, his anger beginning to bubble to the surface as his curiosity was satisfied.

"Oh-ho! You're as smart as Ginny made you out to be." Riddle grinned, as if it was all a game. "I wish you could have seen her new diary entries though, they were far more interesting." He cleared his throat, and when he started speaking again he was speaking in Ginny's voice; or at least what Harry assumed was Ginny's voice, having never heard her speak. "_`I think I'm losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and I don't know how they got there. Dear Tom, l can't remember what I did on the night of Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I've got paint all down my front. Dear Tom, Percy keeps telling me I'm pale and I'm not myself. I think he suspects me… There was another attack today and I don't know where I was. Tom, what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad… I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!_"

"So who decided on the targets? Was it all you, or did you not have enough control until just recently and you could only go after those she didn't like." Harry demanded, his civil mood now entirely gone.

Tom actually thought about that, it was an interesting idea. "Thinking back, early on I do remember feeling a sort of compulsion to attack certain people." His eyes glinted with amusement as he met Harry's glare, "It worked out in the end, didn't it Harry? She focused her hate on the people that argued with you, and I was drawn towards them. They wound up petrified, and you took the blame. Hilarious."

Harry glared harder, but Tom wasn't done. "But you're more focused on why your _whore_ was attacked, aren't you." He said with gleeful little smile, "You got careless, little Ginny was having one of her little panic attacks in an abandoned classroom, and guess where you and your Mudblood trollop decided to have your filthy little rendezvous?"

Harry's eyes widened. He'd always remembered to lock the doors before they began using his room in the Outcast Common Room, but thinking back he'd never checked the abandoned classrooms themselves very hard, assuming they were, as the name implied, abandoned.

"Poor little Ginny, so confused by what she saw. She didn't even know what sex was, she thought babies were made by kissing at night!" Tom cackled, the idea being utterly ridiculous to him. "I really must hand it to you, I never had a sex drive myself, so my ways of charming people were more broad, but produced less loyal minions. And I didn't start until my fifth year. You, on the other hand, have a select group of followers that would follow your every word, or at least they will, given time - and you're only in your second year. I truly wonder which is more effective." With a smile that didn't fit on an eleven year old girl, Tom made an offer, "I've got a deal for you, young Harry. Join me, help me to gain a new body and you can have anything you want. I could give you this body, even, once I'm done with it, a soulless shell is useful for oh so many things, I could even ensure her soul survives intact, as it is now, so you can punish her for hurting your _whore_. Think about it Harry, with our powers joined we could rule the world together. What do you say? I've wanted to meet you for quite a while, and fortune has smiled upon us both."

The idea of using the bitch that got his Melody hurt was a tempting offer, but working with the asshole that ordered the attack in the first place? He would never do that. The bastard would pay. Something he said made Harry curious though, "And why would you be interested in seeing me for? I was long after your time."

"Because I've many questions for you," Tom admitted, "like how is it that you managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's power was destroyed?" There was an odd red gleam in his hungry eyes now.

"Why do you care how I escaped?" said Harry slowly. "Voldemort was after your time…"

"Voldemort," said Riddle softly, "is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter…"

He pulled Ginny's wand from his pocket and began to trace it through the air, writing three shimmering words:

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

Then he waved the wand once, and the letters of his name rearranged themselves:

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

"You see?" He whispered. "It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my most intimate friends only, of course. You think I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's name forever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother's side? I, keep the name of a foul, common Muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out his wife was a witch? No, Harry - I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world!"

Hearing this only enforced his earlier decision in not siding with the bastard; he was the one that killed his parents. Not to mention he wouldn't be sharing control with anybody when he ruled whatever amount of land he decided he wanted. "To be honest I don't know how I lived and defeated your future self. There are many theories, but…"

Ginny's head nodded in understanding, "Fair enough Harry, but as you can see, joining together we can rule the world. We can do things better than the fool my future self became ever could, if he was defeated by a mere baby. What do you say?"

Harry's arm tensed beneath his sleeve, "I say - _**Petrificus Totalus!**_"

Tom, despite being taken off guard by the attack from the previously amicable boy, was able to dodge the spell and fire back with a _Bonebreaking Hex_.

The bone white bolt of magic whizzed past Harry as he leaned out of the way and threw a Stunner in return. Tom blocked with a _Protego_, and responded with another spell Harry didn't recognize, but sliced a good sized gouge in the ice wall Aneira raised in front of them. Harry burned right through it as he launched a cone of fire at Tom.

The fight progressed in a similar fashion for the next several minutes. Sadly for Tom, he was facing the might of both and Ice and a Fire Elemental, not to mention the power Harry could force into his spells, something Tom would have normally been able to do as well, but was limited to Ginny Weasley's magic reserves. If only he had more time to perform a few rituals to boost the vessels strength, at least temporarily, but he hadn't expected to be outed so soon.

Harry cursed his opponents spell knowledge as another one of his spells was blocked. Tom knew so many spells that his pathetic dodging abilities could never be exploited, because they weren't needed. So Harry switched strategies, he stopped paying as much attention to the fight, growing used to the rhythm of the combat, and within a few seconds his eyes zeroed in on a weakness; the diary. When Aneira sent another ice attack towards Tom, Harry cast a lightning fast _Expeliarmus_ to knock the diary out of Ginny's hand.

Tom yelped as his diary was thrown out of his hands by the spell and landed in Harry's. He looked up and locked eyes with the furious killing curse orbs of his opponent and his eyes flickered to the still glowing wand tip in his nemesis' hand. He could do nothing as Ginny's body crumpled to the floor; the tethers holding his soul to hers were centered on the diary, and without the medium in hand, there was nothing holding them together. His true form was revealed, looking almost alive and in full colour unlike a ghost.

Tom could already feel his meagre reserves draining and his image began to fade away. _'Why couldn't Potter have waited just a few more months?!'_ He raged. _'Then I would have a solid body once more and I wouldn't have to rely on my diary so heavily.'_

Harry threw a _Levicorpus Charm_ at Ginny's unconscious body and tossed her uncaringly backwards, through the twin snakes door. A dark grin settled on Harry's face as he eyed the paling Tom, who realized his options were quite limited. He hadn't considered that if he was disarmed he would be at such a disadvantage. He had enough power to make himself solid enough to grab a wand and cast a few spells, but the only wand was in the hand of Potter, and he doubted it was going anywhere. Ginny's was on her body, behind Potter. Tom had to admit that as an opponent, Potter was one of the best that he'd ever faced, it was a shame he wasn't willing to play ball.

However, Tom wasn't one to lose without a fight. Knowing that he couldn't get to a wand, he used his only remaining weapon; his charm. "Harry, think about this, with both of our powers we can rule the world together. We can do so much together."

"If I wanted to rule the world, I wouldn't want to share control with anyone but those I trust, and I could never trust you." Harry growled.

Tom began to sweat, he felt warm despite not possessing a body to feel warm with yet, in his confusion he looked around for the source of the sensation. It wasn't long before the origin of the heat was revealed.

The heat grew worse and worse until the hand Harry was holding the diary with lit up with a 'fwoosh!' sound. Riddle screamed, his ghostly flesh blistering and bubbling. He tried to lunge for the boy, to make him stop, anything to make the pain stop, but he coughed up a lungful of smoke and collapsed forward, twitching in agony.

Harry watched it all with a dark, almost perverse grin as he saw the man he'd sworn several times over burn from the inside out.

He watched, and continued watching the spot Riddle used to be long after his body had lost its ability to hold a shape anymore, after the diary had turned to ash in his hand even, just basking in the pleasure of both the kill and the vengeance he'd enacted. He may summon his mother again and tell her the good news. He had more magic than before as his magic had grown since the summer. He estimated he could get twenty minutes this time. Not ideal, but enough to have a meaningful conversation with her.

He looked back towards the other redhead, Ginny Weasley, as she groaned and began moving. Riddle's hold had existed even when she wasn't holding the diary, keeping her knocked out until now. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with her. He didn't know the memory charm (something he really needed to get around to looking up) and killing her seemed like such a waste. She was attractive, in her own little way, and Melody and Luna could be out of commission at some point.

Before Harry could decide what he was going to do with the bitch for her part in Melody's attack, he heard her stir. Moments later she got up. She looked surprised and afraid as she looked around the Chamber before she set eyes on Harry and said, "Harry-oh, Harry, I'm so sorry, I… I s-swear I d-didn't mean anything th-that happened, T-Tom made me, he t-took me over. Where is he? The last thing I remember is you sending a s-spell at me."

"He's been dealt with." Harry said with a satisfied smirk.

"I'm going to be expelled!" Ginny cried and began to sob on the floor, Harry made no move to console her, waiting until she talked again. "I've looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came and n-now I'll have to leave and… and what'll Mum and Dad say?!"

"I don't care what they think." Harry replied darkly, shocking her. Her hero, her knight in shining armour, couldn't possibly be acting this cold. She needed someone to help her, but Harry looked like he was furious with her! "My problems will be a whole lot easier to deal with if you can be expelled for your part in Melody's attack. With Tom's diary destroyed, it'll be my word against yours. Just because my reputation has taken a beating doesn't mean the Minister won't throw you to the wolves over me. So what's stopping me from stunning you and dragging your body out of here, making sure you're thrown straight into Azkaban before you ever wake up?"

Ginny began hyperventilating as her world crashed around her; she couldn't believe Harry was doing this. Sure she was part of the reason why Melody was attacked, but in her mind it was mainly Tom that did all of it, she couldn't be to blame, most of the year was just a haze to her. The threat of Azkaban almost made her freeze up, but the knowledge that if she didn't do something she was going to wind up there for sure forced her to move. "H-Harry, please don't do this." Ginny blurted, staring up at him pleadingly, "I didn't mean for anything of it to happen! I'll do an-anything! Just please help me…"

"_Anything_ you say," Harry said with an evil smile. Ginny, despite the chills shooting up her spine, felt a ray of hope. "Well that I can work with." Harry walked round the kneeling girl appraising her body and considering how to go about his goal. She was shivering with the cold of the stone floor against her legs but Harry paid it no mind as he considered what to say next. "I have decided that you will swear oaths of servitude to me Ginny, do you know what they are?" Ginny gasped as she heard him ask the question, she knew what servitude oaths were. They could only be taken of one's free will and left the person they were sworn to in complete control of the oath giver. They couldn't escape the oath through suicide as it would be seen by her magic as a betrayal of the Master. Ginny realised that this was the only way to avoid Azkaban, and besides, surely the great Harry Potter would not treat her badly? Ginny nodded her head, "I know what an oath of Servitude is."

"Very well then repeat after me." Harry said as he recalled the exact wording needed for the oath to take effect in its entirety...

By the time they left Ginny was effectively Harry's slave. She still had her free-will to act how she wanted to when she didn't have active orders from Harry, but at the drop of a hat he could have her doing whatever he wanted. She was owned property, and Harry made sure she knew it was revenge for Melody. She had a feeling that if he wasn't tired he would have done what he was doing with Melody to her, so she remained meek and quiet, doing nothing to further aggravate him.

"I'm going to stun you now." Harry declared after they were done.

Ginny panicked, understandably so, "Wait, no! I agreed to everything!"

"Quiet!" He snapped, shutting her up instantly. "This will go a lot easier if you're unconscious. When you wake up and they ask you what happened you will tell them the truth, but only up until before I came. You'll tell them that someone stunned you and you don't know what happened. This conversation between us never happened, nor do you know who dealt with Tom; I don't want people to know what I did. To make sure you don't get any blame, or at least get as little as possible, tell them you haven't had full control over your actions since the first attack."

"I… I haven't." She replied quietly.

Harry nodded slowly, making a mental list in his head of all the bases he needed to cover. "Good, that's one less thing to remember when you tell them your story. Blame everything on Tom, stress how powerless you were, and you'll be fine."

"Yes Harry." Ginny replied dutifully, laying down on the ground to make his job easier. "Thank you." She eventually said, actually meaning it, despite everything that had happened. "Thank you for sparing me. I'm sorry for the part I played in hurting your friend"

"Talk to Melody when she's cured, tell her what happened and that I told you to talk to her. She'll decide your punishment." Harry replied and followed it up with a Stunning Charm, taking the girl completely by surprise.

That taken care of, Harry cast Levicorpus on the unconscious girl and began to leave the Chamber. On his way out he thought about it and decided to take a piece of the freshest Basilisk shedding, which looked to be only a few days old. It took him almost twenty minutes just to cut off a piece, because of how resistant the hide was to magic, even just a shedding, but he managed it. Without a thought he opened up a cut on his upper arm and began covering the piece in blood to make it look more realistic. He counted himself lucky Basilisk blood was red.

As he reached Myrtle's old bathroom he laid her outside the bathroom to be found in the morning with a warming charm so she wouldn't freeze to death. He placed the blooded Basilisk shedding next to Ginny with an unsigned note explaining that it was a Basilisk behind the attacks and that it has been dealt with. He would need to remember to have Myrtle go to one of the Professors to complain about a girl lying outside her old bathroom. The faster they found her, the sooner the threat of being thrown into Azkaban would be gone from his shoulders.

_**TO BE CONTINUED!**_

_**Authors Note:**_Here ends another chapter of Vulcan, I would like to thank you for reading and I hope that you keep on reading and enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing this. If you did or did not, I hope that you'll spare a few more minutes and review, as I would like to hear what you think of the story so far and any ideas you might have.


	12. Chapter 12 - Second Year: Part 4!

_**Authors Note:**_We would have ended second year last chapter, but we still had a few loose ends to tie up, so don't expect this chapter to be very long.

Some people didn't like that I enslaved Ginny. I can accept that, Ginny's not exactly the most popular character. The point is Harry did it, not only to make her his slave, but to stop her from telling people about him in a way that ultimately benefits him the most. Another slave that follows his orders is better than wasting that potential slave by shipping her off the Azkaban. Why waste a resource?

And someone said that I put in too much sex too fast, far too soon. I disagree, sure there have been five limes/lemons, but there has been a plot around it before and after them. The same person said that Harry actually had to actually plot how to get each girl in the original: the thing is Harry had only two girls so far, how is that now plotting each one? And is it inconceivable that one or a few of them would try and seduce _him_?

And some people also think that the story is rushed, and the original was much, much better. To me though, as I now think about it, I think that my original was rushed. It had no development in plot or the characters, as it didn't really explain how things got to the point of Harry's fourth year. In this version, I've developed the characters and the plot. Yes I've altered things and brought new characters, but to me with the new plot made this version better.

'_Thoughts'_

_§ 'Parseltongue!' §_

_**Warning:**_Underage Lemon, Male Dom, Female Sub, threesome.

_**Chapter 12**_

_After returning to the Outcast Tower he told Myrtle to go to one of the Professors to complain about a girl lying outside her old bathroom. When asked why, he explained what happened, without going into too much detail, and that he didn't want Ginny to be left alone out there for too long. Like it or not, Harry took care of his own, and that's exactly what Ginny was now. So Myrtle went to the Professors while Harry went to bed; he needed a full night's sleep for the scolding he was going to get from his friends for going down into the Chamber before everything was ready._

_When Harry went to sleep he found himself in his Mindscape, and it didn't take long to figure out his sister wanted to talk to him. No sooner than Harry had sat comfortably on his throne did Lucy appear, making a theatrical entrance as he knew she enjoyed doing; appearing in a spray of lava, completely naked, before giving him a kiss in welcome._

_As they pulled apart, Lucy knelt next to her brother. Harry began stroking her hair dutifully, before he asked, "So, is this visit for pleasure or do you want to talk to me about something?"_

"_Can't it be for both, brother?" Lucy said lustfully, pouting as he simply cocked an eyebrow at her. "I just wanted to talk to you about Dumbledore, and if you think he knew what was behind the attacks beforehand." She explained._

"_You'll have to jog my memory, Dumbledore's been strangely cooperative lately, and I've had bigger issues to deal with." He replied._

"_You'll have to jog my memory, Dumbledore's been strangely cooperative lately, and I've had bigger issues to deal with." He replied._

_Lucy nodded, accepting his point. "The attacks happened before, and unlike recently, Myrtle was actually killed." Lucy began to explain, "It may not be the only thing that kills without a trace, but I'm sure the staff figured out what Slytherin's monster was the first time around. So I'm just saying doesn't it seem odd Dumbledore didn't do anything? Use more defensive methods geared towards Basilisks in specific, and not completely useless tactics that wouldn't do anything to stop nearly any kind of creature? The only evidence I really have to support this would be back when Colin was attacked; Dumbledore seemed to know what was behind the attack but not how."_

_Harry hummed, mulling over the information. She was right, thinking back, and Dumbledore seemed to know what was behind the attack. He could remember his words well: 'The question is not who, the question is how?' So the old man knew about it, and yet he didn't warn anyone about it, or do anything to stop it. This made Harry hate the man even more._

_As he thought about it more, he heard Lucy say, "So Harry, summer is near, what are you planning?"_

"_Not sure yet…" Harry admitted, then suddenly smirked and added, "most likely going back to the nude beach we went to last summer."_

"_Hopefully that little blond girl is there. Give her a taste of her own medicine. As for what else you could do… well you could start killing people." Lucy said with a nasty smile, but frowned when she saw her brother look mildly conflicted with the idea. She almost cursed the Lovegood girl; before Luna came along she knew her brother wouldn't hesitate._

"_It's not that I don't want to, I just don't see any kind of reward, or upside of any kind. If there's no benefit, it's just needless risk." Harry explained._

_Lucy sighed, accepting his point. As much as she wanted her brother to be more evil and show that side of himself, there was a pretty limited amount of things he could do without giving himself away, or turning into a directionless savage like Voldemort. They were better than that._

"_You could always try and fuck Emma." She suggested after a few moments._

_Harry nodded, looking pleased with the idea. "I planned to. I'm going to see how much the mirror did. If she lusts after me enough I'll take things a step further, if not I'm sure we can come up with other things to spark her interest."_

"_In the meantime…" Lucy continued, her form shifting until she looked like the woman in question._

_Harry grinned and guided her mouth to where he wanted it. Until he woke up a few hours later Harry and Lucy put Emma's body to the test, or at least as close as Lucy could get. Unlike Lily, the form of Emma wasn't exact, so a lot of it was guess work. Regardless, it only increased the appeal of the older woman, since he would be able to eventually find out the differences first hand._

_**o0OoO0o**_

_11th of March:_

Luna woke him up with a gentle blowjob, which was rewarded by Harry returning the favour for her. After they were both satisfied Harry split off to do his morning run before entering the Great Hall for breakfast. The conversation with Lucy stuck with him, making him wary of the elderly Headmaster. Harry as confused as he noticed the students all file in, even the ones who didn't normally eat breakfast and preferred to sleep in.

"Do you know what's going on? I haven't seen the Great Hall this full at breakfast since we got our timetables." He asked Hermione, who was sitting across from him.

"Oh you wouldn't know," Hermione replied, "while you were having your run, Professor McGonagall informed us all that Professor Dumbledore wanted to talk to us before classes started about something. She didn't say what though."

"I wonder what it could be about?" Harry mused aloud. He suspected it was about Ginny and the Chamber, but he could be mistaken.

"I hope it isn't another attack," Cedric said worriedly, "not when we're so close in dealing with it."

Before Harry could say anything he saw Dumbledore stand up and begin his announcement, "Thank you all for coming this morning, I know that many of you are wondering what is going on; if there was another attack? I'm happy to announce that there isn't another, and that there will be no more attacks from now on. The culprit has been dealt with."

Everyone began to whisper at this bold claim, wondering how someone was able to stop the obvious suspect, and why he was still here if he'd been 'dealt with'. Harry friends, on the other hand, were giving him looks that very clearly said they would all be talking soon. "Now I would like to make clear that the Heir of Slytherin was not Mr. Potter." Dumbledore said firmly, looking sternly at the gathered students, "As to the matter of dealing with the Heir, I must confess I do not know who accomplished the task; the true hero wished to remain anonymous. A note was left where I could find it with proof of the monster's demise."

It was tentative at first, but cheers soon began filling the Hall at the now safe school. Dumbledore let this go on for several minutes before he called for their attention once more. "I'm sorry to inform you that the Curative Draught for the Petrified students will not be ready until May. However, some good news to lighten your day, in light of the attacks being stopped, I'm giving you all the day off to relax and have fun. Due to several students still being Petrified, the end of the year exams have been cancelled this year. This does not count for those in their OWL and NEWT years."

The cheers were just as loud, possibly even louder with this new bit of news - apart from Hermione and a few Ravenclaws anyway, who were upset about the exams being cancelled. Harry ignored it though, too uncomfortable with the looks his friends were giving him to be happy.

The rest of breakfast was surprisingly uneventful, aside from the standard chattering of the students returning from what used to be a very grim and sombre - with a hint of hatred directed Harry's way - event.

_**o0OoO0o**_

With the day off they were given, the Outcasts went back to their tower where they immediately cornered Harry,

"Harry, what were you thinking of going after the Basilisks like that?" Hermione started angrily.

"I wasn't planning to." Harry explained, "I was restless and anxious and I needed to do something or I would have gone mad. I only planned on mapping out the area to see what the layout was like, I even brought Aneira with me just in case."

"But Harry, you shouldn't have-" Hermione argued, less angry now and more concerned.

"I get it." Harry cut in. "I was impatient and made a mistake. I'd prefer if we didn't spend the next half hour arguing about it."

"Who was behind the attacks Harry?" Luna asked in an attempt to steer the conversation towards something constructive.

"One of the students was being used without their knowledge. They found an item that ended up possessing and forcing them to attack people using the Basilisk. The real mastermind behind the attacks was Tom Riddle, or at least some kind of magical copy claiming to be him, housed in a journal." Harry explained. "I promised not to give their name out to anyone."

"Now?" Su asked.

"In regards to…?"

"The students." Su clarified.

"We do nothing." Harry answered coldly, "I for one don't care about them anymore. They treated us like scum, the Gryffindors especially. They didn't just kick us out, but they treated all of you terribly just because you chose to stick by your friend. I'm happy to remain here for the rest of my time at Hogwarts. Though I realize not everyone here feels the same, that's what I'm going to do unless one of you has a better plan."

"But Harry, now that-" Hermione tried to reason, wanting to think the best of people still.

It was Daphne who cut her off this time, "Now that they know the truth, we should give them another chance?" She finished dryly. Hermione glared at her, but it broke into a curious look.

Daphne took the chance to explain. "Why should we give them another chance? They were the ones to turn their backs on us, if we do give them another chance how long would it take before something else comes up again and they stab us in the back again? No, the best plan is to do nothing, like Harry said. If they want another chance, let them reach out to us, not the other way around. They need to learn that their actions have consequences. If we just instantly forgive them then they'll think they can get away with it again. In the last war with the Dark Lord, Dumbledore gave all those who said they were sorry for their actions another chance, and allowed them to get away without any kind of punishment. And look where that got us! The Malfoys aren't even slightly repentant about what they did, and they don't even try and hide anymore because they know Dumbledore will just roll over the second they seem slightly remorseful." The Greengrass Heiress raged.

"Agreed." Su supported, with the rest of the group nodding in agreement.

"It's not like we won't give them another change if they put in the effort." Cedric added assumingly, "They just need to really mean it. Otherwise we'll just be right back to square one."

Hermione sighed and nodded. Not even her faith in her fellow man could deny what they were saying. "Alright, I can accept that."

_**o0OoO0o**_

_20th of March:_

A week later, just as Harry predicted, students were almost instantly trying to get back into their good books, especially most of the Gryffindors. The majority of them just wanted their star Quidditch player back, so in the end the only students the Outcasts agreed to spent any time with were Neville Longbottom from Gryffindor and Tracey Davis from Slytherin. In the end not much changed. The Outcasts weren't outright hated anymore, but they really didn't socialize with the rest of the school either.

However, there was one person who came crawling back to them, Blaise. Harry was more than happy to leave the backstabbing ass out in the cold, but Daphne asked Harry as a favour to her to let Blaise back in for everything that she'd done him - the Pureblood training, Occlumency, and Legilimency - and even owing him a favour, since the group shared Harry's opinion and him allowing Blaise back in would go a long way in making things go smoother. Daphne told Harry that Blaise and her had been friends for years, and she would like give him another chance. After some thought Harry accepted, under the condition Blaise would swear the Oaths of the Outcasts and would be watched from now on, which both Blaise and Daphne agreed to.

It was Saturday morning and the Outcasts were having breakfast, planning out their days. They all stopped as Su pointed towards someone approaching them. They looked up to see Ginny Weasley walking towards them. Considering most had stopped trying to approach them, this was a strange occurrence. They had to wonder what was important enough for her to try it.

Suddenly Ron ran into the Great Hall, "Ginny! I forbid you from having anything to do with them!"

Harry palmed his wand, ready in case the redhead got violent, but he didn't need to as Ginny whipped around and threw a spell at her brother. Ron's nose glowed briefly before several bits of snot flew out of his nose and transformed into really gross looking bats. They proceeded to attack the boy's face, biting at him with their newly formed little mouths.

Harry turned to the redheaded twins a few feet away from him, "Did you two drop him on his head when he was a baby?" He asked, wondering if that was the reason Ron was as stupid as he was.

"Eh no…"

"… But I think we should have…"

"… it might have knocked some sense into him." The ginger twins said together, getting chuckled from their friends at their deadpan expression.

"Nice shot Ginny." Harry complimented the girl as she reached them.

"So dear sister…"

"… What can we do you for you today?"

"Do I need a reason to see my favourite twin brothers?" Ginny asked sweetly, "No, I just want to see Harry about something."

Now Hermione Granger wasn't known to be the smartest witch of their time for no reason: she realized that for a girl who hasn't said two words to their group since she started Hogwarts, only to do so not long after the attacks had stopped, meant only one thing to her, "So you're the one that was behind the attacks." Hermione blurted in shock.

"Hermione?" Harry asked in a fake confusion.

"Ginny hasn't said two words since she started Hogwarts," Hermione explained herself, "but now a week later after the attacks stopped she now wants to talk to Harry."

Before Harry could deny anything, Daphne said quietly so no one heard her apart for their group, "No wonder you weren't sorted in Slytherin. Do you have any cunning at all?"

"What do you mean by that?" asked Hermione.

"You just blurted out that Weasley could be behind the attacks." Daphne said slowly, " You'd think that almost a year as an Outcast you would be careful as to what you do and say where other people can hear and see you. If it isn't obvious, everyone in this school is out to get us. Maybe not right now, but _something_ is going to happen at some point to make it so. As for my own suspicions, I've suspected for a while it could have been her."

"And why is that?" Harry asked.

"Who else would it have been?" Daphne asked rhetorically, "She's the sister of two of your close friends, so you would want to protect her so you don't put the Twins in a dark light, even if it meant you would stay in the dog house, as the Muggles would say. If it were anyone else, you would have thrown them to the Aurors, probably gleefully, in order for the threat of Azkaban to be lifted."

"Is this true Harry?" Fred and George both said, for once not on purpose.

"It was her." Harry said lowly, glancing around to make sure no one heard, which from the lack of any pitchfork themed crusades, he assumed they didn't. "Now you see why I didn't say anything. Should anyone find out that Ginny was behind the attacks, without the dairy, she would be blamed for all of it. Even with the damn thing, knowing the Ministry, she'd still get caught in the crossfire, and what would you think would happen to hers and the twins family?"

"Harry's right." Fred sighed.

"But Ginny, you know our father has always said to never trust something that that you can't see where its brain is." George continued.

Fred was forced to add, "Though taking that literally means you can't trust portraits, and we all know how helpful they are, so we like to think he meant 'don't trust it if it doesn't have a face', because you can read a human face if you're skilled enough."

"Right, and you've seen how the school acted when something they don't agree with happened; they threw a hissy fit and blamed everything and anything before finally deciding on me." Harry said darkly, "What do you think would happen to Ginny and her family if the public found out about Ginny's part in the attack?" He asked them, deciding to leave it up to their minds to think up the worst thing that could happen.

Knowing firsthand how children acted when they saw something they didn't like she was almost afraid to imagine how adults would react towards the Weasleys should they find out. "I'm sorry I just out and say that Ginny," Hermione apologized. "But I thought Dumbledore said he didn't know who stopped the attacks."

Harry could have cursed Ginny for this, seeing as he didn't want this problem he knew he would have to explain himself. Thinking quickly he explained, "I told her not to reveal my part of stopping the attacks. Without the diary there was no proof, like I said. You know how the school's been about me, it wouldn't take much for the fools here to think that _I _was the one making Ginny perform the attacks. So I thought it was better that no one knew who stopped the attacks."

Harry resisted the urge to breath a sigh of relief as the Outcasts generally agreed with his decision. The school could have easily thought that he was controlling the poor, innocent, Pureblood Ginny Weasley into attacking people, even if it made no sense.

"So what are you doing over here Weasley?" Daphne said finally, her tone, while not outright hostile, wasn't welcoming in the slightest.

"To ask if I could join you." Ginny revealed. Taking advantage of the group's surprise she continued, "I know it's surprising and I know what it would mean, but I've wanted to ask for some time. I don't agree with how the school has been treating you, especially Ron since Harry was his best friend and the twins being his brothers. I tried a few times to join you, but Tom would allow me, he would stop me before I could even get close. But now he's gone I have the freedom to finally ask."

"Are you sure about this Ginny?" Harry asked, mostly for appearances sake. In truth the closer she was the more easily she was available if he had a need of her. "You do understand what it would mean if you did this? You would lose all your friends, and people _will_ treat you differently, thinking you're now a Dark Witch or something like that."

"I understand that Harry," Ginny admitted, "but this is the least I could do, and is something I _want _to do. As for the others, my true friends won't care if I'm with you and your group. Those that do weren't my friends to begin with. Ron and Percy are prats anyway, and most of the time me and the other kids in the family do our best to ignore them. They may be our brothers, but they only care about themselves and getting what they can get for themselves. The only difference between them is Percy knows how to actually work for what he wants, even if it means walking over his family to do it."

The twins were nodding in agreement, supporting everything she was saying. A tiny part of Harry very briefly wanted to defend Ron seeing they were once friends, but it was instantly smothered by the rest of him, who knew just how useless and caustic the boy was. "I know my parents will be upset, my mother mostly, but once I explain my reasoning, they should be fine with my decision."

"If you're really okay with it all, welcome to the Outcasts." Harry said with a smile, "A House for those that the others won't take, either because of small mindedness or bigotry or both." He explained, feeling his little spiel would be used more in the future for some reason.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_27th of March:_

A week after the youngest Weasley had joined things were the same as before, with the exception of Daphne's continued distrust of Ginny. Ronald and Percy were able to convince most of the Gryffindors that Harry had somehow brainwashed Ginny into joining the Outcasts, they even tried to convince their parents too. However, before they could, Ginny had sent a letter to her parents explaining what was going on. As she suspected, they were upset that she and the twins had done what they did, but understood where they were coming from, as the one thing that they taught their kids was to stand by their friends.

That afternoon Harry was outside near the lake taking a break from school work and training when Daphne came up and sat next to him. He turned and greeted his friend, "Hey Daph, is everything alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine Vulcan." Daphne said, taking Harry by surprise. His friends normally only used his nickname in the Outcast Tower, so whatever she had to say was important. He gave her his full attention, something Daphne noticed and rewarded with a smile, "I wanted to ask you something, have you went back to the Chamber of Secrets since that night?"

"No, I haven't." Harry admitted, "Why, did you have a plan for it?"

"Because there's a huge Basilisk still there alive that you could use." Daphne explained almost excitedly, "It would be a waste not to use it for yourself if you could control it. Also I thought you and a few of us could search the Chamber itself; I find it hard to believe the Chamber contains nothing but the Basilisk. I have no proof of this, but it seems like a waste of a hideaway to only keep your pet inside it. Even if it was the case, you could still use it as a place to train."

"You're right," Harry nodded slowly, digesting what she'd said, "there could be more to the Chamber…" Something occurred to him, "You want to come too, don't you? That's why you asked me, you wanted to see the Chamber yourself."

Daphne blushed at being caught so easily, but this was the Chamber of _Salazar Slytherin_ himself! He was a huge role model for her. "You caught me," Daphne admitted, "but you need to understand this is Salazar Slytherin we're talking about, most of my family ended up in his house. We don't believe that he did half of the things that people said Slytherin did, as the other three Founders wouldn't allow him to start a school with them if he actually outright hated and killed Muggles. We believe that either something happened to make him hate Muggles, or it was one of his children that hated them. I would like to find out the truth about the stories around him, and looking around the Chamber might do this."

Harry could see her point, she admired Slytherin and wanted to know the truth about him. To be honest, he wanted to know too, so with a smile he said, "Sure you can come with me, I'll get Ginny-" Seeing the distrustful look on Daphne, he added, "You may not like her Daphne, but she's part of our group now. Not only that, but she knows where the Basilisk is, and maybe some info about the Chamber she hasn't yet told us. So she would be a useful companion to have."

"Fine." Daphne conceded to his point.

"Come on then, maybe the others might want to come with us." Harry decided as he got up and offered Daphne a hand, which she demurely took.

_**o0OoO0o**_

An hour later Harry found himself down at the Chamber's main entrance with Daphne, Ginny, Luna and the Weasley Twins. The others had to do their homework and Hermione was seeing her sister in the Hospital Wing. As they entered the Chamber, Harry asked Ginny, "So where is the Basilisk Ginny?"

"In the statue." Ginny answered as she pointed to the statue, "To summon it you'll have to say in Parseltongue 'Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four'. Once you say that the snake will come out of the statue."

Daphne felt a bit sick and upset about this, Slytherin was an idol to her and her family, but the statue was awful, and the phrase that opened it made Slytherin out to be arrogant. Before she could say anything Harry went up to the statue and hissed, _§ 'Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four!' §_

The six of them saw Slytherin's gigantic stone face moving. Its mouth opened, wider and wider, but the hole it was making remained dark, no light penetrating deeper, leaving them completely unaware of what was inside.

Until something began stirring at least; slithering up from its depths. Harry told the others to close their eyes just before the huge snake hit the stone floor of the Chamber. _§ 'Who'sss there, you're not my Massster!' §_ The Basilisk hissed as it stuck out its tongue to taste the air, _§ 'The girl sssmilesss like my massster, and yet… ssshe dossesn't. What isss going on.' §_

_§ 'The reason she smiles different is because she was being controlled by your former master's memory,' § _Harry hissed back, explaining about is going on. _§ 'But I destroyed the memory and freed her.' §_

_§ 'If that isss the cassse, if what you sssay isss true, what do you want from me?' §_ The Basilisk asked, _§ 'Do you want me to continue my former master'sss plan to get rid of the unworthy?' §_

_§ 'No, I don't want you to do that.' § _Harry explained quickly to the giant snake, _§ 'What your former master was doing was foolish. Sooner or later it would have gotten you killed when people found out about you. All I want from you for now is to protect the school until I say otherwise.' §_

_§ 'Jussst like Massster SSSlytherin wanted when he lived.' § T_he Basilisk said happily,_ § 'I wasss forccced into attacking the ssstudentsss, becuassse he wasss a ssspeaker like you. By ancient magic unlessss we're bonded to a Massster, we mussst obey the ssspeaker, he wasss alssso the heir of Massster SSSlytherin.' §_

Harry found this last bit of interesting, and was already planning to bond the Basilisk to him as soon as he could. After quickly explaining what was been said, Harry went back to the Basilisk and asked first,_ § 'Do you have a name?' §_

_§ 'It'sss _Medusssa, Massster,' _§ _Medusa hissed.

_§ 'Medusa, is there a way for my friends to look at you with their eyes open without them dying?' § _Harry asked, suddenly thinking about his friends and them keeping their eyes closed.

_§ 'There isss Massster,' § _Medusa admitted, _§ 'I've got a sssecond eye lid that allowsss me to sssee without killing.' § _

_§ 'Please use them so my friends can open their eyes.' § H__arry told he__r._

The Basilisk only nodded, before she hissed, _§ 'It hasss been done Massster,' §_

After telling his friends it was fine to look, Harry asked the Basilisk, _§ 'Medusa, I was wondering if there is more to this Chamber? A friend of mine thinks that it isn't here for just you.' §_

_§ 'Your friend isss right Massster.' §_ said Medusa, _§ 'Command it to open, and it shall.' §_

_§ 'Do you know what's inside?' §_ Harry asked.

_§ 'I do not, Massster,' §_ Medusa answered, _§ 'I am far too big to fit inside.' §_

_§ Open! § _Harry commanded loudly. He assumed the hidden area would be inside the large statue domination most of the chamber, but he was taken by surprise when he heard grinding of stone. As he followed the sound of the grinding, he saw it was coming from behind the statue. He saw a section of the wall slowly descending into the floor, making an archway. As the archway was formed, it revealed a set of stairs going downwards.

"Well that was unexpected." Harry commented before making his way down the stairs, followed by his friends.

As they got to the bottom of the stairs, they were shocked to find they found themselves in a room that looked remarkably similar to their common room, only with less furniture, presumably meant for only one person. Despite this, the room itself was far bigger than their Common room, though every inch of it was covered in dust. There was a lack of cobwebs, but considering spiders fled whenever they sensed a Basilisk they could assume the spiders simply never came in here, their instincts telling them to flee whenever they got close.

The group split up and searched the plethora of door leading off to who knew where. In retrospect it wasn't the smartest of ideas, but it all turned out okay as they found bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a duelling chamber, a potion lib and a library with large gaps of it missing. The last room was something that only shocked them until they thought about it and who owned the Chamber; a medieval torture room.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_10th of April:_

The next two weeks were spent cleaning out the Chamber as a whole, getting it all up to the condition where they could live down there if need be with having allergy attacks.

When Harry was cleaning the library, he was shocked as he read some of the books and scrolls and came to realize that Naruto from the comics he read was real. Not Naruto himself, but the history around him, his homeland the Elemental Nations, Hidden Villages and their magic was known as chakra and their spells known as Jutsu were all real. In fact, even the story behind Naruto was true, but he was a she and was named Naruko and she too had Kyuubi within her. It seemed that somehow the writer of Naruto had gotten his hands on this information. Harry could only guess that's where a large portion of the scrolls went.

There wasn't much in the books, or the scrolls, detailing Naruko's history and that of the Elemental Nation, but from what hadn't been taken it seemed that Salazar Slytherin had an interest in the Elemental Nations and its skills in their powers Jutsu. Over the years that Salazar learned of them he went searching for all the information he could about the nation and their powers. He first discovered that Naruko was a Jinchuuriki, someone who had a Demon sealed within, them normally a Tailed Demon, a special class of demon reserved for nine powerful beasts all taking the form of different animals. Naruko had within her Kyuubi no Kitsune, the nine tailed demon fox. It seemed that all the Tail Demons were part of one demon known as the Jūbi, the Ten Tailed Abomination. It was divided by someone known as Sage of the Six Paths. The Jūbi was considered to be both creator of the world and the herald to its end if ever be revived.

From what they read - as Harry had showed his friends the historical objects without hesitation - there was someone named Obito Uchiha's who's ultimate ambition was to capture and merge all nine of the Tailed Beasts back into the Ten-Tails, and become its Jinchūriki - an idea that was created and designed by someone named Madara Uchiha, dubbed the Eye of the Moon Plan. Once he became Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, he would cast the reflection of his illusion casting eyes on the moon, casting a mind trapping illusion known as the Infinite Tsukuyomi, which would put the entire world under his control.

The plan seemed to work, Uchiha was able to capture and merge all nine of the tailed beasts apart for two of them. However though, Uchiha didn't realize the true power of all of seven tailed beasts, and he lost control and Jūbi was reborn. Although Jūbi had two parts of it still missing, it was still powerful and it was able to destroy the whole of the Elemental Nations only leaving about a few thousands of its people alive. Jūbi was about to start on the rest of the world, but it was stopped by Naruko and a group of ninjas somehow. What happened during the final battle and afterwards, the group didn't know as Salazar didn't seem to carry on from that, and if he did the research was now missing. The Elemental Nations was seemingly finished, so the man lost interest. That, or those scrolls and books were simply stolen too. The notes they did have didn't end on any sort of cliff-hanger like the others did, so it was impossible to tell.

The one thing that Harry was happy about was that one of the Jutsu that Salazar found was the one that he had been trying to copy since the previous summer: Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, or as the scroll called it, Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. This Technique was considered a Kinjutsu, a Forbidden Technique, because it could potentially be dangerous to the person performing it. The clones were all given an equal amount of energy to use, an amount that the original would have as well, unless the person was a master at using the Jutsu. If the user was left with too little energy…

Harry wasn't worried about that, as he had been absorbing some of the magic from The Orb, so he didn't think it would be much of a problem. But at the moment he didn't have the time to really begin working on performing the Jutsu the right way yet, but was planning to do so soon.

The next Saturday morning Harry decided to take a break from training and school work and relax in the Outcast Tower - of which there were a few already up, but most were still in bed. As Harry sat there though, he saw that the Weasley Twins were still researching ways to make ghost grow a bit older to help their ghost friend Myrtle out of her endless puberty. Myrtle wasn't as bad as she used to be, but there were still times where she got on their nerves. The sooner she was out of puberty, the better. The Twins had done some great work in their research, and might have found a way to help Myrtle. Harry picked up on something the others didn't about the twins though, the two were looking into other research matters involving the dead and ghosts. It seemed to Harry that they were looking into ways of becoming Necromancers. Harry could only assume the profession was either illegal, or at the very least not talked about, because he'd never heard anything about magic related to the dead in his time at Hogwarts. Truth be told, Harry was interested too; you never knew when a situation would call for certain spells that weren't well known.

"How are ghosts formed, anyway?" Harry asked suddenly as he thought about Necromancy, it might help the Twins further their research if they knew this.

The girls, Su, Susan, Hannah and Daphne, all looked at each other, and through silent vote Daphne, being the local Pureblood, was chosen to answer. "When someone dies their magical reserves don't just disappear into thin air, they rapidly burn off. Nobody knows what this fuels, some believe it's to 'propel the soul to the next great adventure', but that's never been proven, and it's even potentially disproven by objects also being able to become ghosts."

Harry looked even more curious. "Ghostly objects?"

Daphne nodded. "Yes. Do you remember Nick's Deathday Party, how there was rotten food and empty drink bottle and glasses?" Harry nodded as he remembered that evening, absently noticing Hermione come down from her room, her steps shambling and her jaw cracking with a wide yawn as she listened into what was been said. "Well one of the reasons for this was because sometimes when an items serves its purpose; food being eaten and drinks being drank, for instance, they can leave behind an imprint, a ghostly copy. Like I said before with humans, the act of creating a ghost is completely at random, nobody knows what factors really make it happens, but the magic that burns itself away can lead to a similar reaction to food, only it happens more often naturally. I can only assume ambient magic has something to do with inanimate ghosts, since the items themselves don't have any magic."

"Naturally? So it can be done on purpose?" The raven haired leader asked slowly.

Daphne didn't have an answer for that one though, she just shrugged. Myrtle was the one who gave him the answer he was seeking. "In theory, yes, but nobody has even tried. What's the point? Pleasing ghosts? Good luck finding someone with a pulse interested in doing that." She frowned, only to blink and look around, her cheeks tingeing a deeper blue. "Present company excluded."

Harry nodded slowly, and the silence resumed for several minutes as Harry was deep in though and the others got back to what they were doing.

"Hey Gred, Forge, you still have those almost empty bottles of Fire Whiskey in the cupboard?" He requested suddenly.

The ginger twins didn't even look up from the thick, black leather book they'd been hunched over since Myrtle joined them as they replied in unison. "Sure Harry, top shelf behind Monply."

Harry nodded, assuming they meant Monopoly, a game Hermione had asked her parents to buy and send over to play. It was a hit with the Purebloods of the group, Daphne especially enjoyed becoming the Godqueen of Boardwalk and Park Place and reaping in all that sweet monopoly money. He got up and walked over to the cupboard, reached inside and took out two of the many bottles within. They were the only ones that had been opened, and were both almost completely drained, just a little bit left at the bottom of each bottle.

Harry put his theory to work and charged one of the bottles with magic. It seemed to absorb the energy, so he pushed more, feeling a slight but growing resistance the more he pushed.

And then it exploded.

Shrieks filled the room and a rapid series of questions all being a variation of "Harry, are you okay?!" were thrown his way. Harry himself cringed and pulled a shard of glass out of his palm, thankfully the only injury he sustained from the encounter. He turned to look at them, giving them all an apologetic look. "I'm fine, sorry about that, I didn't know objects had a limit for how much magic they could hold. Or, I suppose I should say, I didn't know they exploded when they hit that limit." He clarified.

He began pushing magic into the other bottle. This time he did it slowly and cautiously, making sure the second the bottle felt like it was 'full' he stopped. The bottle didn't look any different visually, and he really had no idea what to do with the Fire Whiskey inside.

With a shrug he popped the top and threw back the half a mouthful left. He grimaced at the taste, but the burning sensation the twins always complained about was absent. _'Was it because of the magic?'_ He wondered, before dismissing that theory.

He tossed the now empty bottle across the room, expertly landing it in the garbage can they ended up rarely using. He turned around, only to come eye to eye… to eye to eye, with the Weasley twins staring at him with sparkly eyes. "How'd you do that?" They asked urgently.

"Uh…" Harry replied eloquently.

"The Fire Whiskey, you drank it without fire coming out of your ears, or you face turning red." George clarified. "We hate it! But we can't get normal Whiskey since we Magicals are 'too good' for Muggle Whiskey." Griped Fred.

Harry gave them a flat look before his eyebrow twitched and suddenly his hair was replaced by fire.

The twin's excited look died a quick death as they realized what he meant. "Oh…" Fred moped. George sighed, slinging an arm around his brother's shoulder, "We really should have expected 'Fire' Whiskey would affect you differently. Seems a bit obvious in retrospect."

What looked like another tangent between the infamous twins was cut off by a squeal from their new House Ghosts. "Booze!"

Harry looked over, only to chuckle as he saw Myrtle floating several feet off the ground on her back, curled in a ball and suckling on a ghostly bottle of Fire Whiskey like a baby.

His vision was suddenly obscured with what appeared to be rolled up newspaper as it swatted him in the forehead. "No." Hermione scolded on the other end of her weapon. "Bad Harry. It's far too early in the morning to be making magical discoveries. I haven't even had my morning gallon of coffee yet."

_**o0OoO0o**_

_1st of May:_

Harry finally found time to work on the Shadow Clone Jutsu as well, managing to fully learn the technique with the help of the scrolls. Harry wasn't sure what allowed him to use the Jutsu, but he was the only one who managed to get it to work. They were making progress though, so it seemed like him trying to recreate the Jutsu had left him better prepared for the real thing. The Weasely twins were the first to manage a single clone each, who they immediately ordered to do their school work and go to their class so they could concentrate more on pranks. Hermione was next, getting a full three clones from the get go, which was celebrated by all four invading the Chamber's recently discovered library. By the time May rolled around everyone had managed to create a single clone at least and had them doing various things, just practising with the Jutsu to gain a better mastery.

Harry had long since moved onto learning something else though, and while they were all picking up the Sahdow Clone Jutsu, he'd pulled a random scroll off the shelf and thanked his strange luck as it turned out to be Kinjutsu Kuchiyose: Kaso Rairai, or, in English, Forbidden Summoning Technique: Fire Rats Cometh. The Jutsu summoned rats that were encased in flame, they would burn any object or person they were ordered to attack. He was also looking into what he was calling the Immortality Jutsu as a working title, as the scroll was slightly damaged and the name was gone. As the name implied it made the user immortal by anchoring their spirit, their soul, onto another body. The user could then take control of that body, killing the native soul through a battle of willpower. Harry admitted it was a little redundant, since he had the Philosopher's Stone, and could die from old age and ailments, but that didn't mean a back-up plan would hurt anything. As he knew he could be killed by other means…

This Jutsu was so complex that he was sure it would take him years to work it out though, so he didn't see himself using it any time soon.

He was currently taking a break after practising with his Clones in the Chamber's Common Room, making sure the Jutsu was combat ready, when Hermione, Su and the Patil Twins came down the stairs. "Harry I was wondering if we could borrow your _Enhancing the Body: Guide to Rituals_ book again please?"

"Sure, Hermione. What do you need it for?" Harry asked curiously, pointing to where the book in question was sitting on an end table.

"Experimentation." Su answered.

"She means we're going to be trying one of the rituals. I suppose you could say it's an experiment since we've never performed a ritual before." Hermione said, sending a flat look at the Asian girl, disliking the term that implied she didn't know what she was doing.

"Oh, which one?" He inquired, interested in which one his friends might want to try.

"The one that grants us an animal's traits, which traits depending mostly on what creature we perform the ritual using." Padma explained.

"And we even found that if we use a magical creature there's a chance we'll gain their magical abilities!" Parvati picked up where her sister left off excitedly.

Harry recognized the ritual, he was somewhat tempted to do it himself, but had put off doing it in favour of mastering the Jutsu. He also wasn't sure which creature he wanted to use in the ritual, and didn't want to jump into things prematurely and waste the opportunity. "I'm assuming you want to use one of the rooms below to eliminate the chance of being interrupted?"

Hermione nodded, her cheeks reddening as she explained, "We also need the privacy; we have to do it naked. So if you don't mind leaving a few clones to stand guard and staying up here we would be grateful."

Harry shook his head, "I'll be more than happy to supply as many clones as I can make to keep lookout - though I don't see the point considering you'll be under several layers of security already - but I need to be there."

Hermione's blush grew as she caught on to what he was saying, "Harry, I-"

He interrupted her, "I can teleport, so if anything goes wrong I can get you four to the Hospital Wing instantly. Plus, I have more experience with rituals than any of you do. While I haven't performed any on myself yet I fully intend to use quite a few of them. In preparation I've memorized that entire book," He gestured at the book he'd directed her towards earlier, "And the ritual you want to use is a two part ritual, the second part needs a Parseltongue to make the potion." They looked bashful at forgetting this part of it, but he didn't press them about it, "So have you decided on what animal's blood you're all going to use? And, now that we're o the subject, do you have all the ingredients you'll need?" Harry inquired.

"We do." Hermione answered, holding out the bag with the needed materials they would need "We brought everything before we came here. As for the blood, I was hoping that I could use some from Aneira?"

"Sure no problem, I'll get her in a minute." Harry accepted easily, "What about you three?"

"Non-magical fox." Su answered. It as it was quick, and had good sense of hearing, smell, and sight. It would compliment her existing skills nicely.

"Me and my sister are going to be siamese cats." Parvati answered for both Patils. They were only really in this for the enhanced senses, and cat-like grace would be more of a bonus than anything, so they didn't spare a thought to using a more magical feline.

"Alright, when do you want to do this?" He asked.

"Since it's the weekend we were thinking we could do it now. Would that work?" Hermione replied uncertainly.

"Sure, that would work fine. Just let me get the blood from Aneira. You should probably give her a gift of some kind for this." Harry commented, to which Hermione nodded thoughtfully, only to have the Familiar in question hop into his lap. Blinking in surprised he made a mental note to give the feline a treat the next chance he got and ran his hand down her back soothingly, casting a spell with his other hand to painlessly take some of her blood, which was pulled into a ball at the tip of his wand. He placed the blood into a crystal vial, and handed it to Hermione. "Now that that's out of the way, let me start the potion for you." He said, sending her a questioning look. Hermione answered his unasked question by gesturing to where the ingredients they already had were sitting by their feet.

Over the next few hours Harry spent his time standing over five cauldrons brewing the potion the girls needed. The ingredients that he used were Powdered Birch Bark, to ensure that no unwanted Spirits were able to interfere with the ritual. Next were Powdered Blackthorn Bark and African Violet, which was used for both normal and spiritual protection. A cloth of gold was added to ensure nothing unwanted would be brought along with when the bond between the animal and human was created, granting a certain level of understanding. Then there was the Dulse, which was used to ensure harmony of the fusion of the now cleanly severed and cleansed traits with the human. After an hour of brewing these together on a low heat, Harry then added the girls' blood before stirring in the Basilisk Venom, which they got from the Basilisk in the chamber, to fully bind them to a human, and the Phoenix Ash from a rare Shadow Phoenix to restore the traits stolen from the animal back to said animal. This wasn't really needed for any of the potions but Hermione's, since the fox and cats were completely disposable, but Harry didn't want to deviate from the instructions because it was convenient.

The last step was to crystallize it, which is where Harry's unique skill came in. He began to chant the Parseltongue Spell, and soon the potion shrank and hardened into the chalk sized chunk they needed it to be. Once the potions were crystallized, Harry gave the cylindrical gems to the girls and asked, "Are you girls ready for the next part?"

"We are." Hermione replied, fighting down the blush as she accepted that Harry was going to be seeing them naked now. The other three girls were of similar expression, but they accepted that they needed him. While the ritual was fairly simple, none of them had any practical experience, and the more eyes there to check things over the better.

Crystals in hand, they began drawing the Ritual Circle with runes made from the crystallize potion, using them like a piece of chalk, for the needed ritual.

The girls then nervously took their robes off, revealing nothing but their bodies beneath. Harry resisted his body's natural reaction, but was good enough at leering now to not get caught checking them out. He liked what he saw, a lot, but put it out of his mind once they stepped into their circles. He made sure he was at a safe distance, one that wouldn't interfere with the ritual, when he noticed them getting ready. It was very interesting to see when they called on the elemental spirits before promptly flooding their respective circles with magical power to allow their power to mingle with the magical properties of the blood within the crystallized potion, now etched as the runes themselves.

There was a flash of light from each of the four circles, a different colour from each one, but all of which just as blinding as the last, and Harry was forced to shield his eyes. When he opened his eyes he realized something must have gone wrong. He didn't know what happened, but instead of human girls his friends had been turned into human/animal hybrids.

Hermione was the first girl to become visible. Her hair was, almost amusingly, completely unchanged, but now she had two cat ears twitching within the bushy mess. She was covered from head to toe in fur, it was mostly cream, but from her upper calf down was a dark brown. Her chest, belly, crotch, and inner thighs were instead covered in pure white fur, as was the tip of her new tail. Harry absently noted that the white fur wrapped around, and her behind could now very literally be referred to as 'heart shaped', due to the unique fur pattern covering it.

Su was next, looking far more in control of herself than the completely frozen Hermione. Su's ears were longer but thinner, and her muzzle was slightly longer than Hermione's. Her fur at first appeared to be completely black, but when it caught the light he could see just a hint of blue. Her tail was thicker, or perhaps just poofier, than Hermione, but the strangest thing was that she had two of them.

Padma and Parvati were revealed last. Both were covered is very light fur, almost white, but leaning more towards a very light cream. The only exception was around their hands, feet, thin tails, and new ears, which blended into more of a dark brown. The most startling feature of the two Indian girls were their eyes. Hermione and Su's hadn't changed aside from gaining a different pupil, at least from the distance he was at, but Parvati and Padma's eyes were now a solid icy blue, only their pupils, a solid black, standing out in their mesmerizing depths. This added contracts allowed him to pinpoint the exact second they became aware of their changes, because their thin slitted pupils widened in both surprise and in reaction to the low light of the chamber, widening until they were almost the circles they used to be, but instead were large ovals.

As the girls looked themselves over they were understandably shocked at what they saw. "Harry, what happened here?!" Hermione exclaimed, just shy of shouting, her voice panicked.

"I don't know," Harry said honestly, worried about his friends, "I did everything that I was supposed to right. I don't know what happened, but what's done is done and we need to see Madam Pomfrey, she might know how to undo this."

"But Harry," Hermione protested, horrified at the thought, "we can't go like this."

"I know you don't like it, but she might be the only one who can undo what we did wrong." Harry pressed. It may have been embarrassing, but they could have something wrong inside them for all he knew.

"Agreed." Su supported, sounding defeated.

"I can transport us to one of the empty classrooms near the Hospital Wing so we'll have less of a chance of being seen." Harry explained in an attempt to reassure them so they wouldn't worry as much. "Get dressed and I'll transport you all when you done."

_**o0OoO0o**_

Once the girls had gotten dressed, Harry transported them to one of the empty classrooms near the Hospital Wing. After that they covered their faces with their cloaks and quickly headed towards the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey spotted them as soon as they came in but instead spoke directly to Harry, giving him a resigned look, "So Mr. Potter, what have you got yourself into this time?"

"It isn't me this time Madam Pomfrey." Harry answered, uncomfortably aware of how often he'd spent in the Hospital Wing before he started defending himself. "It's the girls, they were, err..." He tried to think up a believable lie, but realized the truth would be better. Lying would harm her chances, so telling the truth would help fix whatever happened much faster and not make things worse, "We were performing a ritual that would help enhance their senses. I was helping them with a part of it…"

"You did _what?!_" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed in shock and anger, "Are you daft? Rituals are the most powerful and dangerous kind of magic to exist, and should _never _be attempted without fully understanding what you are doing. So much can go wrong if you're not trained and experienced, it takes years for someone to be ready to even try and do a ritual. You're lucky it seems no one was killed because of it." With a sigh, now a bit more calm that she'd vented she asked, "So what happened to you girls?"

Removing their cloaks, the girls show their new selves to the School Healer who gasped in shock at what she saw. "What happened to you?"

"We don't know." Harry explained for the girls as they put their cloaks back on. He handed her the _Enhancing the Body: Guide to Rituals _on the page _Strength of the Beast_. As the Healer was reading ritual, Harry went on to explain, "They wanted to do that one to improve their senses, and gain control over ice in Hermione's case, and as far as we know we did everything right. I must be wrong though because, well, this happened."

Madam Pomfrey read the _Strength of the Beast_ Rituala few times, before she said anything. "I need to call in Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick, McGonagall and Snape, but are you _sure _that you did everything right?"

The gathered students didn't like the other Professors knowing this, but if they could find out how to transform them back, they would allow it. "As far as we know we did the runes right," Hermione answered.

"The potion was brewed to the letter." Harry said confidently.

"Hmm," Madam Pomfrey hummed thoughtfully, "you may have done everything right, but there's also a chance you could have done something wrong, something incredibly minor; rituals are very finicky magic. Let me get the professors and I'll explain." As she said this, Madam Pomfrey called a House-Elf to being Dumbledore, Flitwick, McGonagall and Snape to the Hospital Wing.

As the four requested staff members arrived Dumbledore was the first to speak, "What's wrong Poppy?"

"Ladies, kindly remove your cloaks." Madam Pomfrey asked kindly, and the girls did so to reveal their new forms.

McGonagall gasped at seeing the girls like they were, "What happened to you girls?"

Once again Harry explained what happened. Once he finished, Snape scoffed, "Really Potter? _You,_ brew a potion that works, don't make me laugh. You can't make a decent potion to save your life, or anyone's in fact, most of your potions blow up or are no good at all."

"For your information _sir,_" Harry sneered the word sir, as he would have liked to call him a few other things instead, but his friends needed help. So he would show some respect, for them, "If you didn't allow people to sabotage my work, I would be one of the top students in Potions."

"More arrogance, claiming you're better than others." Snape scowled at Harry, "you just like your -"

"We all know what you think about me and my father_,_" Harry snapped, barely keeping himself from reacting even more aggressively. "But at the moment, my friends comes first and I would like to think that no matter what you think about my father and what he did to you and others, he would put his friends first if they were in danger."

"Well said Harry my boy," Dumbledore said with his grandfatherly tone of voice, "Your father would, and did, put his friends before everything." His expression grew disappointed though, "I'm also disappointed in the five of you for doing such a dangerous ritual. You're inexperience in performing rituals and so many things could have gone wrong. I would like the book you used to stop you from being attempted to try anymore."

He was instantly denied as Harry shook his head, frowning at the older man's attempt. "That won't be happening." He said firmly. "It isn't being arrogant Snape, before you say anything, it's my right as Potter Heir. I have a right to build my own personal library. That book was already added to my library, and was taken out to be used. It's going right back onto my bookshelf until I feel I'm ready to use it."

Once again Harry saw Snape about to say something, most likely involving the words Potter and Arrogance, but Dumbledore cut him off with another attempted theft as he tried a different method. "I understand that my boy, but I'm worried that you're not ready for this sort of book, I think it best that I look over the books that you have and keep them until you're older and more experienced so you can use them to their fullest. As Headmaster, it is my job to make sure you and the other students are safe and cared for, it is -"

That was far as Dumbledore got as Harry began to laugh, "_Safe and cared_?" Harry echoed, his tone bitterly amused and incredulous. "Yeah, right. Apart from Madam Pomfrey, none of you tried to keep me nor my friends safe. The entire staff blatantly turns a blind eye to any and every situation that would involve the slightest bit og work to sort out! You didn't do anything when Gryffindor cast me out, you didn't do anything to help my friends when they sided with me and were ostracised for it, you do nothing to curb the blatant racism that a fourth of the school honestly thinks is completely okay to spout in public, nor the bullying that same fourth constantly gets away with. Ask for my books again _when you learn to do you bloody jobs_!" He said coldly, taking advantage of the momentarily silence after he spoke to turn to the School Healer and ask, his voice back to normal, "Madam Pomfrey, you said you might know why this happened to the girls?"

"There are many things that could have gone wrong," Madam Pomfrey explained, "The administering of the potion you made, for instance, the timing might be off a few seconds. Most potion timing isn't all that important, as you can leave it for a few minutes longer. But in rituals, the timing for everything needs to be perfect. The Ritual Circle that you used might also had an error. Even the smallest of mistakes in the Runic Array could cause massive changes or deviations from the preferred outcome. There are many others things that could go wrong, but those are the two main ones I can think of that could be reason behind the changes."

"So is there a way to get them back to normal?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Pomfrey replied, "I was hoping the professors could help here."

"I would need to look at the ritual first." Dumbledore said, still hoping to get his hands on the book, "There might be a way, but there's the chance they would stay like that forever." As they heard this, the girls hugged Harry tighter, Hermione outright crying while the other three were misty eyed. "Poppy, have you called Professor Babbling? She is the castle's resident expert on runes after all."

"Not yet, no." The Healer replied before summoning a House-Elf to do just that.

As the House-Elf went to get the Ancient Runes Professor, Dumbledore requested, "Can I look at the ritual so we know what we're dealing with Harry?"

Harry wordlessly applied a Gemini Charm, which created a perfect but temporary copy of the pages containing the ritual and pointedly shrunk the book down so he could slip it into his pocket. Once he did so he announced, "If there's nothing else, I'd like to tell the rest of my friends what's going on. I'll be back later to see how the girls are getting on."

The girls in question wanted to beg Harry not to leave, but they accepted there was little else he could do, and the rest of their friends didn't deserve to be left in the dark. So they give him another hug before Harry left to see their other friends.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_2__nd__ of May:_

Harry slipped back into the Hospital wing when everyone but the girls were gone. They were all awake, thankfully for his announcement. Su noticed him first, her ears and black eyes tracking him before he'd even entered the room completely.

"Find it?" She asked, getting the other girls' attentions.

Harry nodded, "I did." He pulled a cloth of gold from his pocket, tearing it into four pieces before tossing a piece onto each of the girls beds aside from Hermione, which he walked over to stand beside her and showed her the frayed end. "Notice anything strange about this?" He asked.

Hermione took the cloth, being careful not to scratch him with her new claws, and looked the piece of fabric over with her new eyes, her pupils narrowing to enhance her vision further subconsciously. "This... this is just cotton. How did I miss this?" She asked, outright shocked and almost horrified at her own slip of something so obvious.

This was why Harry was here. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and answered, his voice soothing, "I can hazard a guess that we were so sure we were going to screw up the Circle we paid it too much attention and ignored the ingredients. The ritual worked because the cloth itself was the right colour, but it wasn't the metal magically woven into a cloth, only the colour dyed into cotton. The cloth of gold was supposed to ensure you four only got the animal's traits, and possibly a unique familiarity with the creatures, but what we had wasn't as strong as the real thing and-"

"We got more than we bargained for." Hermione finished for him. She looked at the other girls tearfully, completely blaming herself for this because the ingredients were her responsibility. "I'm so sorry, this is entirely my fault."

Su shook her head, "You are forgiven. Easy mistake. We were too eager." With a good night's sleep to take stock she wasn't against her new body. Physical appearance aside - which could be easily concealed with magic - there were no downsides she could determine from her changes.

Parvati was next, smiling at the bushy haired girl to ease her worry. "Su's right, we rushed, but this really isn't that bad. A little extreme, but it is precisely what we were going for."

Padma was silent until the rest of the room turned their attention towards her. She was reluctant to break the mood, but she stated her opinion anyway. "I agree with my sister, but as a result of this it's possible we'll be classed as an unknown magical creature. And this country is infamous for its many Anti-Creature Laws. It may be a good idea to transfer to Beauxbatons as quickly as we can."

Harry nodded his head, "We'll keep that in mind as an option, but if worst comes to worst and it's possible, I'll claim ownership. This is partly my fault too and I'll take responsibility if need be. The laws are idiotic and bordering on barbaric in certain areas, as we're all aware, but my status is definitely on the higher end of the scale here and I can and will use that to every advantage to make sure you're all safe." He declared firmly. The Outcasts, the girls in particular, were his, and he intended to keep it that way.

The girls smiled at him, grateful for his offer, but were interrupted as Hermione began purring as Harry's hand didn't remain still and began stroking her upper arm. The girl in question froze, her hand reaching up to grasp her throat, as if to force the sound to stop.

Harry grinned devilishly, something that Hermione caught and started waving her hands in front of herself, "Harry, don't you dare!"

It was too late though, and the three girls on the other beds watched and laughed as Harry began petting the bookworm, stroking her back and head. As a result the newly minted Catgirl dissolved into an almost puddle of throaty purrs as Harry's skilled hands worked the more 'public friendly' spots on her body to make her purr.

Su didn't know if she should class this new information as a pro or a con, but she wanted to find out first hand.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_21__st__ of May:_

For the first week in the Hospital Wing the girls had to stay behind closed blinds so no one could see them. When asked about the blinds, and why they were up, people got the reply that the four of them were in detention to help Hagrid cleaning around the Forbidden Forest. But when Hagrid left to get something, they were attacked by some unknown beast, and were left badly scared. They would heal over time, but until then the blinds would be up so people wouldn't stare at them.

Harry never told the Professors what he'd found, already knowing the changes were permanent since the ritual was designed to overwrite their original senses with the new ones, changing their very souls, so they continued fruitlessly searching for an answer that wasn't there. Eventually the staff had to settle on simply trying to blindly fix the changes, which proved fruitless. After that they moved onto ways to conceal what were now their student's natural states of body.

It was Professor Babbling and Flitwick that came up with an idea that help to hide the human/animal hybrids: Glamour necklaces. The two Professors personally made them all Glamour necklaces that would hide their non-human appendages. The necklaces would not only hide their new forms, but thanks to the runes on the necklaces, should someone touch them accidentally, they would feel normal skin instead of fur. Madame Pomfrey also taught them a charm to do the same thing, for redundancies sake. After they were thoroughly safe from being discovered, they were given a stern talking to for making such a foolish endeavour. Although none of the other students learned about the mishap, their friends were supportive and helped them with the physical changes they were going through and the emotions accepting the changes to their lives invoked.

On the side the twins finally found a spell to age Myrtle a few year to end her fifty years of puberty. They found the spell in the personal library of Salazar Slytherin. Myrtle was now very proudly in her early twenties, and was all the happier for it. She couldn't stop thanking the Weasley Twin for what they did. Her flirting with Harry likely would have increased because of her curvier body, but Harry wasn't in the best of moods, blaming himself for his failure with the ritual.

Now it was Friday night and Harry was heading back to the Outcast Tower after visiting Melody in the Hospital Wing. For the first time in a while he was smiling as he left the Infirmary as Madame Pomfrey informed him the Mandrakes would be ready in around a week. Luna was great, and her eagerness to learn everything she could about sex was very pleasing, but he was still ecstatic to have his first and favourite sex-slave back after all this time. He had Aneira with him at the time, taking the chance to just walk around the castle with her.

As they were walking back to the tower, Harry heard Aneira grow at something before she ran off. Wondering what was going on, Harry followed her to down to the first floor and followed her until they were just outside Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. When he caught up with his Familiar, as he did he found that Aneira had a rat in her paws, happily crunching away on it. Harry shook his head in amusement. He fed Aneira plenty, but she still loved to catch her own food. Rodents mostly, but there was also the occasional woodland creature. Apparently the cuter an animal was the better its face tasted.

As he was about to call Aneira he heard sounds of a struggle in the classroom, like someone was fighting. He was curious as to what was happening, so he peaked though the door only to see a naked girl who looked like she was thirteen/fourteen years old trying to escape and, to Harry's disgust, a naked Lockhart. Harry's disgust gave way to a smirk as he quickly worked out how to use the situation to his advantage. Harry had been tinkering with the idea of looking for a way to control the blowhard, and now he had something.

Harry could get rid of Lockhart easily enough, he was a fake and a fraud and an awful Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. The only reason Harry didn't get rid of him was that he was good at teaching duelling. This situation was perfect for gaining control of things, as not only could Lockhart teach him and his friends more about duelling, but Lockhart was famous and Harry knew he could use the man's fame to get a few things that his own Boy-Who-Lived fame couldn't get.

Seeing his chance Harry barged into the classroom, "What the fuck is going on here?" He demanded, playing the part for the girl.

It worked, too. The girl scurried over to him and all but dove behind her supposed knight in shining armour. "P-Please help me." She whispered.

Lockhart paled heavily, his wand flashing and somehow managing to conjure a pair of trousers on himself before he fumbled and dropped it. "M-Mister Potter, this isn't what it looks like!" The blond insisted, his eyes darting back and forth as he tried and failed to rapidly think up a plausible excuse.

Harry rolled the man's wand behind him so it was well out of reach, one hand placing itself on the unnamed girl's shoulder so she didn't run away. He was almost amused when she latched onto his side of her own volition. "Oh I'm sure it isn't. After all, the great Gilderoy Lockhart wouldn't rape a teenage girl, nor would he memory wipe her once he was done."

The man in question was still deathly pale, and now sweating profusely as the situation really sunk in. He had no choice but to act. He pulled his wand, only for his entire arm to freeze in place. Lockhart yelped in ear as he caught sight of a very large tiger growling at him from Harry's side. Harry let Lockhart suffer for a minute before his wand flashed out and in a flash of red light his target slumped to the floor.

"What?" Lockhart blurted, taking his hands away from his face, where he'd been cowering behind them when he saw the girl unconscious on the ground. Harry's wand was now pointed squarely at him now. "What's going on here?"

"I have a proposal for you, an offer you can't refuse, you could even say." Harry smirked. While his wand really wasn't needed at this point with Aneira there, he wasn't going to be too careful with this man. Harry gestured for Lockhart to sit down which, still shaky and a great deal confused, he did.

As he sat down, Lockhart asked, "What do you want with me?"

"Many things." Harry answered vaguely, "Now we both know you're a fraud, your books are only non-fiction because you found the people that actually defeated all those creatures and altered their memories so they don't remember. To be honest though, I don't care about that. We both know you're also a rapist, and normally I wouldn't care about that either."

"Normally?" Lockhart blurted, shocked.

"I'm getting there." Harry replied patiently, "We both know that you're an awful Defence Professor, but fairly good at teaching duelling. So for me to 'forget' about your actions, and keep forgetting about them, you quit teaching Defence, I don't care what excuse you give. Tell them you discovered you were better at teaching duelling, and will stay on as a Duelling Instructor. You may offer me an apprenticeship, which should make both of use even more famous."

"That's it?" Lockhart asked, honestly bewildered, he thought he would need to do a lot more than that. He swallowed thickly as he saw an intimidating and foreboding smile form on the younger boy's face.

"No, those were just the easy demands." Harry said with a smirk, "I want a Magical Vow you'll be my informant and follow my orders from now on. I also want you to teach me the Obliviation Spell and vow to never force yourself or rape another student."

Lockhart's face reddened with anger, "I thought you said you didn't care about that!"

Harry snorted, "I said I _normally_ wouldn't. You see, you never know when someone could be useful to me. If I recruit someone and it turns out she's one memory cleansing spell away from a mental breakdown because you couldn't keep your dick in your pants, well I might find myself with the urge to see exactly how far your ligaments can stretch before they start to snap."

"A-And if I refuse to agree to this and leave?" Lockhart demanded, his tough tone failing completely after the offhanded way Harry mentioned what would likely be an incredibly painful, and crippling, method of torture.

"Then I kill you. You're not the type of man who can hide for long." Harry said without hesitation, but his eyes held a fire that told Lockhart that Harry would indeed kill him. He went on to say, "I just have to say that I found you raping a student, and you put up a fight and I was forced to kill you. Then not only will you be dead, but your reputation will be gone. You'll just be a little cliff note, some rapist the famous Boy-Who-Lived discovered and brought to justice."

"What about the girl?" Lockhart asked as he nodded towards the girl on the floor, still unconscious from Harry's spell.

"I'll deal with her." Harry answered, referring to his Mind Trick. Although he had finally mastered the skill, it still wasn't fully perfect. Unlike Obliviate his technique had a time limit; one week, but it was slowly becoming long over time. After that week was up the person would be free from whatever he'd done to them and go back to the way they were before. He once had one girl date someone who she hated, but once she was free from the spell she broke up with him, not knowing why the hell she had dated him in the first place. Harry was lucky that the Mind Trick was like a magically subconscious suggestion, where it was them who thought of it and not Harry. The only subconscious suggestion that seems to last were the ones that caused them to forget what they saw. But that lead to the second limitation, a person with a strong will or someone who knew Occlumency could fight against it. This was Harry's motivation for learning the Obliviate, so he had a perfect back-up if his Mind trick didn't work for whatever reason. There were of course ways around this as well, but he would work on those after, one step at a time.

Lockhart knew right away that he was trapped. "Fine, you win I'll do this, but what do I get out of this?" The older man asked.

"Apart from me not telling anyone and having me as an Apprentice making us both more famous, you can keep doing what you're doing, taking the credit for other people's work. I suppose I could also have a Simulacrum created for you if I'm satisfied with what you teach me and my friends."

Lockhart was stunned by the offer. While not ludicrously expensive a Simulacrum was definitely something only the wealthy would ever buy. A Simulacrum was a sort of artificial human that could be programmed to act and be whatever the user desired repeatedly. It was like owning your own Metamorphagus, only they didn't have any sort of soul or conscience, since their personality was set to whatever the user desired. If he owned one of them Lockhart would be able to play out almost every single fantasy he had without any danger of being caught.

Harry first heard about them from Daphne, who mentioned that many Pureblood Lords kept one or two around simply because of how useful they were, but he got even more information from Slytherin's library. While they couldn't take very complex orders when it came to things unrelated to sex (as that was indeed their main purpose and what the Charms that programmed them were oriented towards) they made the perfect recording device. Plant one in a popular area with simple orders to enjoy a cup of tea and act demure or not outstanding or eye catching in any way and they could spend the entire day dictating every conversation around them for future use.

"And if I get bored of it?" He sniffed, attempting to get more.

His tactic failed as Harry scowled at him. "Bullshit. Do not take me for an idiot. I know full well the possibilities are near endless with a top galleon Simulacrum. The only possible thing you can't do with it is duplicate it, but I never said you couldn't kidnap a Muggle girl for an afternoon. If you're good I suppose I could agree to send any little girls or boys that become too nosey for their own good your way, as long as I have no use for them." Harry suggested vaguely.

Lockhart was silent for several moments as he realized how non-restrictive his orders really were. They fit Harry's needs, but they left enough room for him to still get what he wanted. The rest of the year would still utterly droll and lonely, but the school year was mostly over anyway and he felt he could last just a few months dry.

"Very well, I accept." Lockhart said, cautiously moving his hand as the ice on it suddenly melted, massaging the feeling back into the cold appendage.

Harry watched the man give a Magical Vow that fit exactly what he needed and, satisfied with everything about the encounter, left the man, the unnamed girl slung uncaringly over his shoulder with his robes over her. He stopped to grab her clothes before leaving.

Halfway back to where he was going to leave the girl he had a sudden thought. Ducking into the closest abandoned classroom he sat the girl down in one of the chairs and hit her with a Re-enervate spell. The girl awoke with a start, looking around with fear filled eyes until she caught sight of Harry standing above her.

"Thank you so much for saving me!" She said, her voice cracking lightly. "I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you."

Harry had a different idea as to how this scenario would play out though, and put a bit of magic into his voice, using a mild Mind trick to act as a compulsion, _"Why don't you give me a blowjob for saving your chastity?"_

It took a few seconds for the compulsion to sink in, but it meshed well with the girl's natural desire to repay him and she nodded eagerly, letting his robe drop to the floor as she took two steps forward and knelt between his knees.

She began to lick Harry cock slowly, her hands reaching up to massage his balls. It became increasingly clear the girl knew her way around a blowjob as she descended lower and lower. Harry was incredibly pleased when she managed to get his entire length into her mouth and throat. She could only hold it there for a few seconds before she pulled back, coughing lightly and drooling, but she went right back to it without any action on his part.

He settled back in to enjoy himself. He would be modifying her memory later, but there was really no reason he couldn't enjoy her while he had her.

A plan he followed quite happily too, by the time he was done with her he'd ended up taking the chastity he'd protected earlier - internally shocked she still had it, considering how good her oral skills were - before using a more powerful Mind Trick to smother the evenings memories with more powerful ones of wandering the halls for a reason he left up to her mind.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_1st of June _

A week later Lockhart had made the announcement to the school that he wouldn't be teaching Defence the following year, which many cheered about, but followed this up by declaring proudly that he would become the new Duelling Professor which Dumbledore agreed upon.

However, it was only a few days and already there was a snag. It seemed that Lockhart hadn't much more to teach the students, as he just knew the basics of duelling and adding his own style into it. Harry was a bit upset about this, seeing this as Lockhart pulling a fast one on him. But after some thought Harry got an idea and talked about this problem again with Lockhart the next chance he got.

Harry had smirked at him, his suspicions being correct, as Lockhart had indeed thought he'd pulled a fast one until Harry told him that over the summer he would have to take a crash course in duelling so he would have something new to teach. Lockhart wanted to argue, but he knew that Harry was right about it and so he cleared most of his schedule aside from his book signings and a few other things that wouldn't take long. He would be busier than he would have liked, but on the upside he would have a chance to make the announcement that Harry Potter would be his Duelling Apprentice, which would be good for him.

Apart for this there was the interesting news that Lucius Malfoy was sacked as school governor. No one was sure why he was sacked, but there were many rumours as to why, two of them were: he tried to blackmail some female student but it didn't work and he tried to curse her, but was caught and so fired. Another was that his son Draco was caught with illegal items, namely highly illegal potions and books on the Dark Arts, and was going to be put under Veritaserum to uncover any more illegal items, so to save his son he allowed himself to be removed as school governor. Harry was more inclined to believe the latter rumour, as he couldn't see the elder Malfoy coming all the way to Hogwarts for an illegal shag and then botching it up. Though he could be wrong, Magicals were infamously incompetent. But then again, it could be one of the other rumours that were flying about.

As a result of all this Draco was no longer strutting around the school like he owned the place, something that pleased Harry quite a bit. On the contrary, the Malfoy Heir looked resentful and sulky.

That wasn't all; just a few days ago all the petrified victims were finally given the cure. They were still confined to the Hospital Wing for a few days to get their strength back, but they were all okay. It would be today that they were going to be released, something Harry couldn't wait for. He was happy that his little slut was awake, and his public reunion with her didn't even come close to what he wanted out of a reunion. He had resisted his urges to sneak into the Hospital Wing solely because there were so many patients there alongside her, one of them even being a ghost, though Nearly Headless Nick was mostly sticking around for moral support, since he was instantly as healthy as a ghost could be once he was given the cure.

Harry's attitude was noticeably calmer, lending even more evidence to his friend's theory that he and Melody were together in some fashion, even if both denied it all. The Outcasts visited their friend often, Hermione almost never leaving as she filled her sister in on what had happened while she was out.

One last thing of note was that second years had to decide their third year elective courses. As each student in their third year must select at least two Elective Courses to pursue in addition to the core classes, these courses were to help in their future career. The Elective Courses were the following: Arithmancy, this was to learn about Spell Creation, altering spells or/and making new spells. Ancient Runes, this was to learn about Runes and what they could do, and help with the basics of Warding and Enchanting items. Care of Magical Creatures, this was to learn about how to take care of magical animal. Divination, this was to learn about how to tell the future. Muggle Studies, this was meant to teach how to act around Muggles in the Muggle World. Enchanting, with a crash course in the needed Ancient Runes for those who didn't take that class too, to learn how to make and enchant items. Healer Class, this was to learn about how to heal people and those who want to become a Healer, though it was more of a glorified first aid and anatomy class until about fifth year when things would start getting more serious. And lastly Symbology, which was a lot like runes with symbols, but it was used to fight and heal, instead of warding and enchanting items.

Most of these classes were either evening classes or weekend classes, and most students didn't like the idea apart for Harry and his group. After some thought, Harry decided to Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures, which were a weekday classes, and Enchanting and Symbology as they were weekend classes. He felt that these classes could be very useful for him in the future.

Susan and Hannah decided on Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Enchanting, Healer Class and Care of Magical Creatures. They also wanted to take Muggle Studies, but Harry and Hermione were able to stop them by telling them it would be useless seeing that they had friends who were raised in the Muggle World and could tell them more than a class that they heard was a waste of time. It was like this for the rest of the group too.

Su decided on Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Enchanting, Symbology, and the Healer class, barely managing to squeeze the last class in, but she was very fit and didn't mind sprinting halfway across the castle if need be. Daphne, Blaise and Padma decided to take the same classes; Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Enchanting and Symbology. Parvati took Divination, Care of Magical Creatures and Healer Class.

Hermione, as someone who wanted to learn everything about magic, wanted to take all the classes that they had. It took the Outcast hours of talking to Hermione to make her rethink her decision. Eventually the only argument that stuck was that Hermione would get so worn out she simply wouldn't be learning anything because she would be too tired, just drifting lazily and mindlessly from class to class like Ron was prone to do. They further soothed her by assuring her that she would have full access to copies of their notes for the classes she didn't take, so if she found herself with time she could do independent study. She didn't need to take the class to qualify for taking the OWL and NEWT, so as long as she kept at it she would be able to take as many of the exams as she felt she deserved to take. In the end she decided to take, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Enchanting and Healer Class.

Now it was Tuesday, late afternoon, and Harry was walking towards the Hospital Wing to meet up with her so he could show her the Chambers. He was within sight of the Hospital Wing entrance when he was suddenly pulled into an empty room. Harry was about to attack whoever pulled him into the classroom, when someone attacked his lips. Feeling a sense of familiarity in the lip lock, Harry returned it full force. When the other person finally pulled back it was revealed to be Melody, who didn't hesitate at all and dove back in with a moaned, "Oh Master."

Before it got too heated Harry pulled back and said, "Not here my pet, I know somewhere we can go to give us some more security. We've been lucky that we haven't been caught more than once."

"More than once?" Melody asked in shock.

"Ginny Weasley." Harry answered, "She was already inside one of the rooms hiding behind a desk when we were together. Don't worry, I've dealt with her and she won't say a word about us. Now, follow me, I've got something to show you." And with that the two of them headed towards the Chamber of Secrets at a brisk pace.

_**o0OoO0o**_

Once they got to the Chamber they were joined by a few of the other Outcasts, who showed Meelody around the Chamber and got caught up more, telling her things that they couldn't in the Hospital Wing because the walls had ears. After they talked, they left to either go to their clubs or just go back to the Outcast Tower to do their homework so that Harry and Melody could talk alone and catch up.

Shortly after the Outcasts left, enough time to know that the others wouldn't be coming back, Harry and Melody quickly shed their robes. Melody was completely nude, while Harry only had a pair of trousers on. Gently pulling Melody to him, Harry quickly attacked her mouth with his own. She jumped up on him and wrapped her legs around his waist, letting Harry walk them towards the Master Bedroom.

_**~~~ Lemon Begins ~~~**_

Once inside Melody pulled back and pushed Harry onto the bed before she dropped to her knees. Swatting Harry's hand away from his belt buckle she gave a feral grin before nimbly removing the obstacle in the way of her prize.

Quickly unlatching the button on his pants she paused before slowly guiding the zipper's pin downward. Pulling his pants and briefs down she let out a low purr as his erection jumped out to bob in front of her face. Not bothering to look up she kept all her attention focused on the warm shaft in front of her. Licking her lips at the sight of the head already slick with pre-cum she couldn't help but smile. She finally realized how much she had missed being there for him to use however he liked, and she couldn't help the warm tingle pulsing in her chest at the thought of him fucking her in any manner he desired, maybe even punishing her for being out of commission for so long.

Fighting the urge to take him inside her mouth she glanced upwards with a sultry smirk. "Master, may I ask for a favour?"

"For you my dear, anything." A twisted grin formed on his face as ideas of what she might request played out in his head.

"Have you got the enchanted mirror connected to my mother's bedroom here?" She asked.

"I do." He summoned said mirror from the next room and casually levitated it over to hang on the wall. Giving a knowing grin he gazed down at her. "Now, why did you want to know?"

"It's Tuesday evening and we both know my father's gone out for his weekly drink with his friends." Melody explained to Harry, who remembered all too well that particular subject. "We also both know mother loves to spend these nights in her room masturbating. And, well, I would like it if we were watching mum as you take me."

"Oh aren't you a dirty little slut." Harry said with a lustful smile. He didn't mind in the slightest, it wouldn't be the first time Melody had asked for this.

"Yes Master I am, I'm your dirty little slut." Melody said submissively, taking pride and pleasure in her position. "So please let this dirty little slut show you how much she's yours as we watch mum."

"If that's what you want." Harry accepted, waving his hand over the mirror to activate it. Sure enough, Emma was once again in her room naked and masturbating.

Before Harry could say anymore about it, Melody began to lick his cock and balls, before she slid into her mouth inch by inch until her lips were touching his pubic hairs. She eased him out slowly, her cheeks hollowed as she suckled on him until just the head remained, repeating the slow but deep back and forth.

It had been quite a while since he'd enjoyed Melody's well trained skills, and so it only took a few more repetitions of this before he could take it no longer and slowly but surely began to lose control. It was minor at first, just a few bucks of his hips, but before too long he had a hand on either side of her head and was completely controlling her movements.

Melody, never one to let an opportunity go to waste when it came to pleasuring her Master, focused instead of working her lips, tongue and throat, letting Harry control the pace completely. She made absolutely certain he remained in her mouth, sucking so hard Harry doubted he could free his cock even if he wanted to for some strange reason, and instead ensured his pace remained the savage and rough throat fucking it had become. It became more savage as Harry saw Emma in the mirror fucking herself even faster. It was as if she could see what was happening on their side of things and was aroused by it, spurring her on to fall even deeper into the lust filled haze she was engulfed in.

Either way, seeing this and Melody giving the best blowjob ever, it didn't took long for Harry's cock to finally explode, and when it did Melody almost violently grabbed his ass both hands and held him close, milking him for every drop as he spurted stream after stream of seed down her throat. _'Damn, that was one of a hell of a blowjob.' _Harry thought to himself. Melody was very skilled, mostly through practice, but she also had a natural affinity towards it - or maybe simply an affinity towards anything involving submission - but what she'd just done was amazing.

"If I didn't know better, I would think that you being petrified made you better at sucking me off." Harry said in lust.

As they were getting their breathe back, they looked in the mirror to see that Emma was also recovering. But after a few seconds, Emma moved off her bed only to return with her vibrator, and facing away from the mirror so that they could only see her ass and pussy. Emma placed her length of plastic in her ass, as once again she began to finger herself, looking back at the mirror with a lustful smile.

Melody only smiled as she saw this, as well as because of his breathless praise, and got up; pulling him with. He was about to say something when she laid on the bed. She was spread eagle, with one hand gently rubbing her already wet pussy while the other hand was massaging her chest, giving equal time to both of her firm breasts.

Harry could see the lust in her eyes as she said, "Please Master, fuck my slutty pussy hard."

He smiled as he climbed onto the bed, allowing her hand to guide his prick into her wetness. He'd already creamed a few times that day, thanks to Luna, so he had no trouble pumping his hardness into her without worry of climaxing too soon.

Remembering that Melody loved the doggie style, Harry pulled his cock out and rolled Melody over so she was on all fours. Without missing a beat he slid himself right back in, watching Emma as she pulled the vibrator in and out of her with one hand and fingering herself with the other, pumping Melody's eager hole in a rapid sawing motion. As he reached under her to rub her clit she caught her breath, "Make me cum Master. Make my slutty pussy cum, please."

It didn't take long at all before she clenched up, grunting cutely as he pinched her nub, and she got exactly what she wanted . "Thank you Master! Thank you!" She yelled.

Harry wasn't far behind, slamming his hips against her with a loud clap and issuing a more masculine grunt before unloading what felt like a quart of cum into her pussy.

She looked over her shoulder, smiling, and asked him. "Are you going to spank me now Master?"

Knowing how much Melody loved to be spanked, Harry raised his hand as he heard Melody sigh with delight before burying her head in the mattress. He swatted her bottom three times, still buried to the hilt inside her, _Spank! Spank! Spank!_

Melody took issue with this and pleaded, "Harder! Hit me harder Master. Make it hurt because I've been a _bad_ girl." _SPANK! SPANK! SPANK! _Harry slapped her harder. He felt his cock stiffen even further inside of her as her pussy flexed around him with every hit, her bottom turning a bright red meanwhile.

Not able to hold himself back anymore, he briefly grasped her hips with both hands before he started hammering away at her pussy as fast as he could. As he was doing so he looked up in the mirror and saw that Emma putting more effort into and fucking herself faster to much the rhythm he was going at. Once he had a steady rhythm worked out and could move on of his hands he immediately did so, showing no restraint at all as he began slapping Melody's ass as hard as he could without toppling them over. Melody was sobbing like a little girl, which did nothing to stop her from having another loud orgasm and messy orgasm.

Harry was about to finish as well but pulled out at the last second, wanting to cum elsewhere. "Suck me! I want to cum in your mouth." She moved around, pushing him onto his back so she could get at to his cock easier. She swallowed his slimy cock to his balls, her tongue snaking out and licking eagerly at his sack, which felt utterly wonderful. Due to this she even got an exact forewarning when her Master was about to cum as she felt his balls tighten up. Demonstrating just how much stamina Harry had, his load was just as plentiful as it had always been and almost caused her to choke, but many months of experience had taught her how to handle it. Harry benefits in more than one way from this as her throat swallowed around his shaft, causing his upper body to fall back limply onto the mattress as the pleasure robbed him of the energy to remain upright.

"Thank you, Master." Was all Melody said as she lay there bathed in her own sweat, "I needed that badly."

"No problem." Harry replied with a warm smile as he laid next to her, one arm hung loosely around her, "I missed having you."

"Thank you Master." Melody said with a smile, and as she looked at the mirror she saw her mother asleep covered in her own cum, "It would seem that mum had a good time tonight too."

"Seem so." Harry agreed with a smile as he waved his hand to turn the mirror off, and not for the first time that night wondering if Emma was able to see them too.

Before he could say more he saw the shadows of someone's feet through the crack in the bedroom door. Melody moaned in disappointment as her Master got up and walked towards the door. A swiftly opened door revealed Luna. Blinking in surprise, Harry asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping to have some time with you and Melody, Master." Luna said simply.

For Harry this was a good idea, he wanted to see if the two would work well with each other, so he said, "Of course Luna come in."

Melody was shocked to see Luna here, and so Harry explained, "Mel, I forgot to tell you, whilst you were out Luna took your place so I wouldn't do something foolish."

"That's okay Master." Melody responded submissively, which made Harry smile, "I can't imagine how bad it must have been after a while."

"Would you mind if you and Luna had some fun together?" Harry asked.

"If that's what you want Master, I'm more than happy to try it with Luna," Melody once again said submissively, this time with a lustful smile as she thought about it.

"Me too, Master." said Luna with smile of her own.

"In that case Luna, don't be shy, come over and look more closely. You're welcome to touch as well." Harry suggested with a grin.

Luna climbed onto the bed and sat cross legged between Melody's legs and gazed transfixed at her pussy. She never seen another women's pussy before, and she realized that it was beautiful, and it was so inviting. As she was looking at it, her Master made another suggestion, "Don't just stare at it, why don't you examine it with your hands?"

"Yes Master," Luna said as she slowly pushed her finger into Melody's pussy, with Melody herself gently guiding Luna's fingers. The blonde slowly pulled her fingers out of Melody's pussy, which made the girl to moan in pleasure at the friction.

"Oh please Luna, faster." Melody moaned out, and Luna was all too happy to agree, and began to go faster and faster, pumping one, two, and eventually a full three fingers into Melody. So engrossed in her task Luna was taken by complete surprise as her fingers were squeezed and her hand was sprayed with a small amount of clear liquid. Luna looked up at the limp Melody, who looked blearily up at her and smiled, "That felt wonderful, thanks Luna."

"No problem Melody." Luna said with a cute smile.

"Luna, get on all fours and lick Melody's pussy." Harry ordered, highly turned on by the spectacle he'd just witnessed.

"Yes Master." Luna replied dutifully, moving to set herself on all fours before lowering herself to lick at the other girl's slit.

For several minutes Luna licked her way over every fold and intimate corner of Melody's pussy, and then she pressed the tip of her tongue ever so slightly into her. Melody was moaning appropriately, and encouraging the girl to do more of what she liked, teaching the slightly off-centre Ravenclaw how to please her.

As Luna was doing this, Harry stood behind Luna and held her hips. He was impressed when, as he slid himself cleanly inside of her, she didn't pause in what she was doing. In fact she dove even deeper into Melody's pussy, using her lips to stimulate her labia while her tongue penetrated her.

Smiling, Harry kept hold of Luna's hips and fucked her hard and fast. As a result Melody screamed out in pleasure, "Oh yes Master! Fuck her harder, her tongue feels great so deep within me. Keep going!" A request Harry was happy to comply with, and did so to the mutual moans of both Luna and Melody. Harry blew his load first, painting Luna's insides completely white, setting her off, who's vibrating moans and release of hot breath right on her clit triggered Melody's orgasm.

As the three finished cumming they laid down on the bed with Melody and Luna on either side of their Master with his arms around them both. As the three of them were laying there, Harry smiled as he said, "You girls were wonderful, but it seems my cock as gotten dirty, can you two clean it for me?"

"Yes Master," the two of them said at once, both looking just as eager as the other as they began to lick Harry's cock. By some unspoken agreement Melody took his cock while Luna handled his balls.

Harry felt wonderful, he'd dreamt of having a threesome for some time, and he had to say it was an amazing experience. It wasn't long before he was ready to cum again, so he gave another order, his voice low with arousal, "I'm going to cum girls, I want you to put it in one of your mouths and share it with the other by kissing."

Seeing as she was already in place Melody dipped her head and sucked her Master's cock into her mouth and begun to bob on it. Luna moved up, giving him a give as his hand jumped up to finger her pussy, with his free hand used it to fuck Melody's head even harder and faster. They moaned into each other's mouths as they both came once again, Harry unloading into Melody's waiting mouth and Luna clenching her thighs around his hand.

He and Luna parted and the blonde darted down to lock lips with Melody, sharing the cum as he'd ordered. As they were doing this, Harry couldn't help but think that it was a wonderful sight, what he was looking at, two young girls who would do anything for him kissing each other. He smirked as he noticed both had the same idea and their hands were reaching up to finger the other. He was truly blessed to have two girls who were so kinky.

_**~~~ Lemon Ends ~~~**_

Roughly an hour later they laid next to their Master, who drifted off to sleep with a warm, "That was wonderful…" and a smile. The girls only smiled tiredly at this, happy they were able to please their Master. Seeing as they were already in a compromising position that really couldn't be explained without admitting to being in a relationship, they remained nude, but cast a few cleaning charms.

Both of them were going to curl up at his feet, like proper pets, ready for when he would need her, but Luna stopped her, "You should sleep next to him." She said with a tired smile, "He's missed you deeply and it would be good if you slept next to him tonight so when he wakes you're the first thing he sees."

"If you sure, you can join us you know." Melody said with her own tired but fond smile.

"I know I could," Luna admitted, "but this is the first time in months that you two would be together. I think it would be for the best it was only the two of you for now."

"Thank you Luna." Melody said as she kissed Luna on the lips before she went to her Masters side and hugged him. And as she drifted into a lovely sleep, Harry as if he knew she was there, hugged her too. Smiling at the scene, Luna curled up near her Master's feet, as she followed the two into the land of dreams. Dreams of repeating what happened that night, and dreams of what they wanted to happen next.

_**o0OoO0o**_

_19th of June_

Two weeks later threesomes had become a semi-regular happen stance. It would have been more, but they couldn't without the others getting more suspicious about the three then they were already were - luckily the three weren't caught that night. During the past two weeks, the school was a lot nicer toward them. Since the attacks stopped the other students were slowly becoming somewhat nicer towards them, but over the last two weeks they were trying to make nice and become their friends again. The Outcasts knew better, they knew that Gryffindor especially wanted the Gryffindor of the Outcasts backs so that they could have the best Quidditch Team back together. Apart for that, not much really happened, apart from Draco's failed attempts trying to get his power back over the students. Daphne, shocking, managed to relay the story of his failure without laughing herself silly. The same could not be said for her friends.

Now it was the last day of Hogwarts, and the students were happy about going home for the summer. So by ten o'clock in the morning, all of them had breakfast and were on the Hogwarts Express. It was around late afternoon when they were back in London, and back with their parents. Once Harry and the Granger girls met up with Emma and Dan, they went to get something to eat before returning to the Granger Household back in Winchester.

_**TO BE CONTINUED!**_

_**Authors Note:**_Here ends another chapter of Vulcan, I would like to thank you for reading and I hope that you keep on reading and enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing this. If you did or did not, I hope that you'll spare a few more minutes and review, as I would like to hear what you think of the story so far and any ideas you might have. I need ideas as to what you would like to see happen over the summer holiday, please help with that as I would like a few parts for the summer chapters.

Just so you know, they'll be going a nudist beach on the island of Lesvos, which is between Egypt and Greece. So any temples or other mythical places in those counties you would like Harry and the girls to go to, please let me know and I'll see what I can add. They'll be leaving a day or two after returning from Hogwarts, and will returning to England just after Harry's Birthday give or take a few days.

I would like to apologize for the long delay, I had a few health problems, which turned into a bit depression for a while, and not only that, when I was ready to write again my muse wasn't there to help me to write. I've also been helping a friend to write his own dark/evil Harry story. So once again I apologize for the long delay, I would like to say it won't happen again but I can't promise that.

I've got another Beta Reader who's helping with my story from the start, and he's been adding a few new plots into the story and a few OC's. Before you begin to moan about OC's being added, I would like to point out what a reviewer pointed out to me, so far all the characters in some form or another are dark, bash bait, or evil, there is no good characters that'll fight against evil for the light. So my new Beta Reader, going only by 'Sun', is trying to add a few good guys into the story to fight against evil for the light. I won't be posting these Beta Read chapters until it is caught up with the latest chapters.

Before people begin to bitch and moan about me adding some history and scrolls of Naruto, there's a reason for this. You see I was having problems with how Harry could learn skills from Naruto, so I decided that Naruto and his world once were real before it was destroyed. I hope you like how I did it, please let me know. Also, if you have ideas as to what Jutsu they could use, please let me know, I'm going to have Harry use Fire Jutsu mainly, for obvious reasons, but he will be using other Jutsu skills too. I'm looking for Forbidden Techniques for Harry to use, so any useful ones you can think of please let me know, especially if they're fire ones. If you can make new ones up, please let me know and I'll use them.

I'm also looking for a third year Sorting Song with this part: A House for those that the others won't take, either because of small mindedness or bigotry or both. It can be altered of course, but it has to have a line about a new fifth house where all the society outcast are welcomed, like vampires, werewolves and other outcasts, whom will be welcomes without question.

_**Question:**_ Would it bother you if Harry shared some of his girls, the more non-important ones, with others? I'm planning to give Harry a Brothel, so he could earn money and to keep his men happy - but at the same time sleep with the women himself at times. Also, Harry is going to use some of his girls as tools, and send them off to other people and he'll sleep with girls who have boyfriends already.

_**Omake Request:**_ I'm still looking for someone to do an Omake for this part:

Luna shook her head, cheerfully stating, "Oh no, I don't get what all the fuss is about. It's not like snakes talk about taking over the world." She looked suspiciously around before she leaned in and whispered, "That's what Owl's do!"

Harry laughed, finding the mental image of Supreme Commander Hedwig with a swagger stick in her mouth furiously barking out commands and slapping the stack against the map she'd set up with the attack plan on it, directing her troops to take over the US for their plentiful livestock. So many pigs, so much bacon…

I like the idea and I hope someone can write an Omake for it for me.

_**PLEASE LEAVE A GOOD SIZE REVIEW!**_


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